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Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 142302 (2003) [4 pages]

Observation of the Charge Symmetry Breaking d+d→4He+π0 Reaction Near Threshold

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E. J. Stephenson1, A. D. Bacher1,2, C. E. Allgower1, A. Gårdestig3, C. M. Lavelle1, G. A. Miller4, H. Nann1,2, J. Olmsted1, P. V. Pancella5, M. A. Pickar6, J. Rapaport7, T. Rinckel1, A. Smith8, H. M. Spinka9, and U. van Kolck10,11
1Indiana University Cyclotron Facility, Bloomington, Indiana 47408, USA
2Department of Physics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA
3Indiana University Nuclear Theory Center, Bloomington, Indiana 47408, USA
4Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
5Physics Department, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, USA
6Department of Physics and Astronomy, Minnesota State University at Mankato, Mankato, Minnesota 56001, USA
7Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio 45701, USA
8Physics Department, Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan 49242, USA
9Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA
10Department of Physics, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
11RIKEN BNL Research Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA

Received 9 May 2003; published 2 October 2003

We report the first observation of the charge symmetry breaking d+d→4He+π0 reaction near threshold. Measurements using a magnetic channel (gated by two photons) of the 4He scattering angle and momentum (from time of flight) permitted reconstruction of the π0 “missing mass,” the quantity used to separate 4He+π0 events from the continuum of double radiative capture 4He+γ+γ events. We measured total cross sections for neutral pion production of 12.7±2.2   pb at 228.5 MeV and 15.1±3.1   pb at 231.8 MeV. The uncertainty is dominated by statistical errors. These cross sections arise fundamentally from the down-up quark mass difference and quark electromagnetic effects that contribute in part through meson mixing (e.g., π0-η) mechanisms.

© 2003 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.142302
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.142302
PACS:
24.80.+y, 24.85.+p, 25.10.+s, 25.45.–z