Speaker
Description
It is still one of the most challenging questions in fundamental physics is how hadrons are build from quarks. One way to address this question is to study hyperons. Hyperons are similar to nucleons but contain one or several strange quarks. By studying the decays of the unstable hyperons, we can gather valuable information about their inner structure which is quantified by electromagnetic form factors. In particular by studying hyperon Dalitz decays, where a hyperon decays into a lighter hyperon and a virtual photon that produces an electron-positron pair, low-energy quantities such as the magnetic dipole moment are accessible. The $\Sigma^0$ is, while mostly decaying through photon emission, predicted to also decay via Dalitz decay.
The Fair Phase-0 project PANDA@HADES provides the prerequisites for studying this. HADES is a spectrometer designed for the investigation of hadronic matter and specialized for the detection of electron-positron pairs. Recently the setup has been complemented by the PANDA forward tracking system which extends the acceptance for protons originating from hyperon decays in forward direction.
A feasibility study of measuring the $\Sigma^0$ Dalitz decay will be presented here with the upgraded HADES setup that will take data in spring 2022.
