Search for an exotic S=-2, Q=-2 baryon resonance at a mass near 1862 MeV in quasi-real photoproduction

TL;DR

This study searched for an exotic S=-2, Q=-2 baryon resonance near 1862 MeV in quasi-real photoproduction but found no evidence, setting upper limits on its production cross section.

Contribution

The paper provides the first search for the $ ext{Xi}^{--}(1860)$ resonance in photoproduction and establishes upper limits on its production cross section.

Findings

No evidence for the $ ext{Xi}^{--}(1860)$ resonance was observed.

An upper limit of 2.1 nb was set for its photoproduction cross section.

The cross section for $ ext{Xi}^{0}(1530)$ was measured to be between 9 and 24 nb.

Abstract

A search for an exotic baryon resonance with $S=-2, Q=-2$ has been performed in quasi-real photoproduction on a deuterium target through the decay channel $\Xi^- \pi^- \to \Lambda \pi^- \pi^- \to p \pi^- \pi^- \pi^-$. No evidence for a previously reported $\Xi^{--}(1860)$ resonance is found in the $\Xi^- \pi^-$invariant mass spectrum. An upper limit for the photoproduction cross section of 2.1 nb is found at the 90% confidence level. The photoproduction cross section for the $\Xi^{0}(1530)$ is found to be between 9 and 24 nb.