Search

The JSNS^2 (J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source) experiment aims to search for oscillations involving a sterile neutrino in the eV^2 mass-splitting range. The experiment will search for the appearance of electron antineutrinos oscillated from muon antineutrinos. The electron antineutrinos are detected via the inverse beta decay process using a liquid scintillator detector. A 1MW beam of 3 GeV protons incident on a spallation neutron target produces an intense and pulsed neutrino source from pion, muon, and kaon decay at rest. The JSNS^2 detector is located 24 m away from the neutrino source and began operation from June 2020. The detector contains 17 tonnes of gadolinium (Gd) loaded liquid scintillator (LS) in an acrylic vessel, as a neutrino target. It is surrounded by 31 tonnes of unloaded LS in a stainless steel tank. Optical photons produced in LS are viewed by 120 R7081 Hamamatsu 10-inch Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs). In this paper, we describe the JSNS^2 detector design, construction, and operation., 41 pages, 29 figures

A new $\mu$TCA DAQ system was introduced in CANDLES experiment with SpaceWire-to-GigabitEthernet (SpaceWire-GigabitEthernet) network for data readout and Flash Analog-to-Digital Converters (FADCs). With SpaceWire-GigabitEthernet, we can construct a flexible DAQ network with multi-path access to FADCs by using off-the-shelf computers. FADCs are equipped 8 event buffers, which act as de-randomizer to detect sequential decays from the background. SpaceWire-GigabitEthernet has high latency (about 100 $\mu$sec) due to long turnaround time, while GigabitEthernet has high throughput. To reduce dead-time, we developed the DAQ system with 4 "crate-parallel" (modules in crates are read in parallel) reading threads. As a result, the readout time is reduced by 4 times: 40 msec down to 10 msec. With improved performance, it is expected to achieve higher background suppression for CANDLES experiment. Moreover, for energy calibration, "event-parallel" reading process (events are read in parallel) is also introduced to reduce measurement time. With 2 "event-parallel" reading processes, the data rate is increased 2 times., Comment: 21st Real Time Conference (2018), Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. 8 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables, 22 references

Investigations of double- $$\Lambda $$ hypernuclei, which contain two $$\Lambda $$ hyperons in a nucleus, provide valuable information on baryon–baryon interaction in the strangeness $$-2$$ sector, such as the $$\Lambda $$ – $$\Lambda $$ interaction. Whereas several double- $$\Lambda $$ hypernuclei have been discovered in nuclear-emulsion experiments, an experimental observation of $${}_{\Lambda \Lambda }^{5}$$ H is awaited. It is not only because $$_{\Lambda \Lambda }^{5}$$ H is theoretically expected to be the lightest bound state, but also because $$\Lambda \Lambda $$ – $$\Xi N$$ coupling may play an important role in its structure. On the other hand, the coupling effect may be suppressed in $$_{\Lambda \Lambda }^{6}{\mathrm {He}}$$ .We propose an experiment to investigate $$_{\Lambda \Lambda }^{5}$$ H at J-PARC. $$_{\Lambda \Lambda }^{5}$$ H will be produced by a decay of a $$\Xi $$ hypernucleus, $$_\Xi ^{7}$$ H, which can be produced by the $$^7\mathrm {Li}(K^-,K^+)$$ reaction. The mass of $$_{\Lambda \Lambda }^{5}$$ H will be determined by means of decay pion spectroscopy; it can be calculated from the measured momentum of decay pions, owing to a two-body decay of $$_{\Lambda \Lambda }^{5}$$ H.

We developed a CANDLES-III system to study the neutrino-less double beta (0$\nu\beta\beta$) decay of $^{48}$Ca. The proposed system employs 96 CaF$_{2}$ scintillation crystals (305 kg) with natural Ca ($^{\rm nat.}$Ca) isotope which corresponds 350\,g of $^{48}$Ca. External backgrounds were rejected using a 4$\pi$ active shield of a liquid scintillator surrounding the CaF$_2$ crystals. The internal backgrounds caused by the radioactive impurities within the CaF$_2$ crystals can be reduced effectively through analysis of the signal pulse shape. We analyzed the data obtained in the Kamioka underground for a live-time of 130.4\,days to evaluate the feasibility of the low background measurement with the CANDLES-III detector. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we estimated the background rate from the radioactive impurities in the CaF$_{2}$ crystals and the rate of high energy $\gamma$-rays caused by the (n, $\gamma$) reactions induced by environmental neutrons. The expected background rate was in a good agreement with the measured rate, i.e., approximately 10$^{-3}$ events/keV/yr/(kg of $^{\rm nat.}$Ca), in the 0$\nu\beta\beta$ window. In conclusion, the background candidates were estimated properly by comparing the measured energy spectrum with the background simulations. With this measurement method, we performed the first search for 0$\nu\beta\beta$ decay in a low background condition using a detector with a Ca isotope, in which the Ca present was not enriched, in a scale of hundreds of kg. The $^{48}$Ca isotope has a high potential for use in 0$\nu\beta\beta$ decay search, and is expected to be useful for the development of a next-generation detector for highly sensitive measurements.

$\bar K$-nuclear bound systems, kaonic nuclei, have been widely discussed as products of the strongly attractive $\bar K N$ interaction in $I = 0$ channels. Recently, we demonstrated that kaonic nuclei can be produced via in-flight $(K^-,N)$ reactions using the low-momentum DC kaon beam at the J-PARC E15 experiment. We observed the simplest kaonic nuclei, $K^-pp$, having a much deeper binding energy than normal nuclei. For further studies, we have proposed a series of experimental programs for the systematic investigation of light kaonic nuclei, from $\bar K N$ ($\Lambda(1405)$) to $\bar K NNNN$. In the new experiment approved as J-PARC E80, we will measure the $\bar K NNN$ ($A=3$) system as a first step toward a comprehensive study., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, proceedings of the 8th Asia-Pacific Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics (APFB2020), accepted for publication in Fwe-Body Systems

We have constructed a new laser-Compton-scattering facility, called the LEPS2 beamline, at the 8-GeV electron storage ring, SPring-8. This facility provides a linearly polarized photon beam in a tagged energy range of 1.3--2.4 GeV. Thanks to a small divergence of the low-emittance storage-ring electrons, the tagged photon beam has a size (sigma) suppressed to about 4 mm even after it travels about 130 m to the experimental building that is independent of the storage ring building and contains large detector systems. This beamline is designed to achieve a photon beam intensity higher than that of the first laser-Compton-scattering beamline at SPring-8 by adopting the simultaneous injection of up to four high-power laser beams and increasing a transmittance for the long photon-beam path up to about 77%. The new beamline is under operation for hadron photoproduction experiments.

The JSNS$^{2}$ (J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source) experiment aims to search for neutrino oscillations over a 24 m short baseline at J-PARC. The JSNS$^{2}$ inner detector is filled with 17 tons of gadolinium(Gd)-loaded liquid scintillator (LS) with an additional 31 tons of unloaded LS in the intermediate $\gamma$-catcher and an optically separated outer veto volumes. A total of 120 10-inch photomultiplier tubes observe the scintillating optical photons and each analog waveform is stored with the flash analog-to-digital converters. We present details of the data acquisition, processing, and data quality monitoring system. We also present two different trigger logics which are developed for the beam and self-trigger.

The JSNS$^2$ experiment is aimed to search for sterile neutrino oscillations using a neutrino beam from muon decays at rest. The JSNS$^2$ detector contains 17 tons of 0.1\% gadolinium (Gd) loaded liquid scintillator (LS) as a neutrino target. Detector construction was completed in the spring of 2020. A slow control and monitoring system (SCMS) was implemented for reliable control and quick monitoring of the detector operational status and environmental conditions. It issues an alarm if any of the monitored parameters exceed a preset acceptable range. The SCMS monitors the high voltage (HV) of the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), the LS level in the detector, possible LS overflow and leakage, the temperature and air pressure in the detector, the humidity of the experimental hall, and the LS flow rate during filling and extraction. An initial 10 days of data-taking with a neutrino beam was done following a successful commissioning of the detector and SCMS in June 2020. In this paper, we present a description of the assembly and installation of the SCMS and its performance., 12 pages, 11 figures

The JSNS$^{2}$ (J-PARC Sterile Neutrino Search at J-PARC Spallation Neutron Source) experiment aims to search for neutrino oscillations over a 24\,m short baseline at J-PARC. The JSNS$^{2}$ inner detector is filled with 17 tons of gadolinium-loaded liquid scintillator (LS) and both the intermediate $\gamma$-catcher and the optically separated outer veto are filled with un-loaded LS. Optical photons from scintillation are observed by 120 Photomultiplier Tubes (PMTs). A total of 130 PMTs for the JSNS2 experiment were both donated by other experiments and purchased from Hamamatsu. Donated PMTs were purchased around 10 years ago, therefore JSNS$^{2}$ did pre-calibration of the PMTs including the purchased PMTs. 123 PMTs demonstrated acceptable performance for the JSNS$^{2}$ experiment, and 120 PMTs were installed in the detector.

The K¯NN bound system, symbolically denoted as “K−pp”, is the simplest K¯-nuclear bound system which has been widely discussed as a consequence of the strongly attractive K¯N interaction in I = 0 channels. Many theoretical works have pointed out the existence of the “K−pp” bound system, but the calculated properties such as the binding energy and the width spread out due to the uncertainty of the K¯N interaction below the K¯+N mass threshold. Experimentally, there are several reports on observation of a “K−pp” candidate with the binding energy of around 100 MeV, however, no definitive evidence was available so far. At J-PARC, we conducted a experimental search for the “K−pp” bound system using K− + 3He reaction at 1.0 GeV/c where the “K−pp” is expected to be directly produced via the (K−, n) reaction. We finally observed a bound state below the K− +p+p mass threshold in the Λpn final state, which can be interpreted as the “K− pp” bound state. The possible existence of the “K− pp” state is discussed from both aspects of production and decay.

In a neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) experiment, energy resolution is important to distinguish between $0\nu\beta\beta$ and background events. CAlcium fluoride for studies of Neutrino and Dark matters by Low Energy Spectrometer (CANDLES) discerns the $0\nu\beta\beta$ of $^{48}$Ca using a CaF$_2$ scintillator as the detector and source. Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) collect scintillation photons. At the Q-value of $^{48}$Ca, the current energy resolution (2.6%) exceeds the ideal statistical fluctuation of the number of photoelectrons (1.6%). Because of CaF$_2$'s long decay constant of 1000 ns, a signal integration within 4000 ns is used to calculate the energy. The baseline fluctuation ($\sigma_{baseline}$) is accumulated in the signal integration, thus degrading the energy resolution. This paper studies $\sigma_{baseline}$ in the CANDLES detector, which severely degrades the resolution by 1% at the Q-value of $^{48}$Ca. To avoid $\sigma_{\rm baseline}$, photon counting can be used to obtain the number of photoelectrons in each PMT; however, a significant photoelectron signal overlapping probability in each PMT causes missing photoelectrons in counting and reduces the energy resolution. "Partial photon counting" reduces $\sigma_{baseline}$ and minimizes photoelectron loss. We obtain improved energy resolutions of 4.5-4.0% at 1460.8 keV ($\gamma$-ray of $^{40}$K), and 3.3-2.9% at 2614.5 keV ($\gamma$-ray of $^{208}$Tl). The energy resolution at the Q-value is estimated to be improved from 2.6% to 2.2%, and the detector sensitivity for the $0\nu\beta\beta$ half-life of $^{48}$Ca can be improved by 1.09 times., Comment: This manuscript is prepared for submission to IEEE Transaction on Nuclear Science. It contains 11 pages, 19 figures, and 1 table

A di-quark correlation has been proposed to describe the internal structure of hadrons, especially those of exotic ones. Nevertheless it lacks a conclusive experimental evidence. The J-PARC E50 experiment performs charmed baryon spectroscopy at J-PARC high-momentum beam line to investigate the role of di-quark correlations in baryons. The energy levels of the excited sates are measured by a missing-mass technique for the first time, and the production rates and decay branching ratios are also measured.

The neutrino-less double beta decay (0νββ) is a powerful tool to probe the neutrino mass. The 0νββ is forbidden in Standard Model (SM) due to the violation of lepton number conservation. In experiments searching for 0νββ, the two-neutrino double beta decay (2νββ), which is an allowed process in SM, behaves as an irreducible background within the energy of interest. To discriminate the 0νββ from 2νββ, the energy resolution must be improved. The CANDLES experiment is searching for the 0νββ of 48Ca using CaF 2 (pure) scintillator as the detector and the source. Scintillation photons are collected by Photo Multiplier Tubes (PMTs) surrounding the crystals. A Flash Analog-to-Digital Converter records the waveform of each PMT. Because of the long decay time of CaF 2 (1 µsec), we make a signal integral of 4 µsec to calculate the obtained energy. Thus, the other fluctuation in the baseline is accumulated in the signal integration, and it makes the energy resolution worse. To reduce this fluctuation, we can count the number of photoelectrons in every PMT. Still, we have a significant overlapping probability of single photoelectron signals. This overlapping probability implies the photoelectrons lost, which causes terrible energy resolution. To improve the energy resolution, we introduce an alternative method named "partial photon counting" by dividing the waveform into two parts, then, perform signal integral in the prompt part and photon counting the second part. As a result, the energy resolution is reduced 4.0-3.5 % at 1460 keV (γ-ray of 40K) and 3-2.7 % at 2615 keV (γ-ray of 208Tl).

We have studied the neutrino-less double beta decay(0νββ) of 48Ca with the CANDLES III system, which consists of CaF2(pure) scintillators. Rejection analyses for background events from radioactive contaminations in the CaF2(pure) scintillators were effective to reduce backgrounds in Qββ -value region. As the results, no events were observed in the region for the data of 131 days × 86 kg. It gave a lower limit 6.2 × 1022 year (90 % C.L.) for the half-life of 0νββ of 48Ca. For higher sensitive measurement of 48Ca 0νββ, we have developed new techniques for 48Ca enrichment and CaF2 scintillating bolometer. In this paper, we will also show current status of these techniques.

The structure of the Λ(1405) hyperon is an important and long-standing issue related to the K-nucleus interaction. The J-PARC E31 experiment has been performed to investigate the Λ(1405) spectrum shape. Because it is hard to form the Λ(1405) directly by a KN scattering in free space, E31 uses the d(K-, n) reaction with an incident kaon momentum of 1 GeV/c. We will identify three final states - ς-π+, ς+π-, ς0π0-so that the isospin structure of hyperon resonance states produced can be decomposed. The first physics run of the E31 experiment was performed in 2016. To enhance the statistics of the data set, we have performed the second physics run in the beginning of 2018. During the second run of E31, around 3.9×1010 kaons impacted on the deuteron target.

A new data acquisition (DAQ) system for the CANDLES experiment was developed using the SpaceWire protocol and the DAQ-Middleware framework. The CANDLES experiment uses a trigger board and Flash Analog-to-Digital Converters (FADCs). The SpaceWire helps us construct the DAQ system with a flexible and multi-path access to FADCs and the trigger board. FADCs have a ring buffer with three buffers to detect sequential decays from backgrounds. We developed the DAQ system with parallel read-out to reduce the dead time at high trigger rates using three read-out personal computers (PCs) that are connected to the three buffers in FADCs one by one. Each PC connects all FADCs and the trigger board and gathers a complete data set of one event without any event builder. The maximum DAQ speed of parallel read-out by three PCs was 2.4 times higher than that of single read-out. In order to collect event data sets from PCs, we built the network distributed DAQ system through Ethernet, which is naturally introduced with the DAQ-Middleware. To realize remote monitoring and histogram modification while the DAQ running, we also developed a dynamic online monitor system independent with the DAQ-Middleware.

CANDLES studies the double beta decay of 48Ca through CaF2 scintillation crystals. The CANDLES III detector, located in Kamioka underground laboratory, is currently running. Here we describe recent status of data analysis which includes detector performance, detector stability, and background estimation. Current sensitivity for 0 ν β β half-life is also discussed in this paper.

The antikaon-nucleon interaction close to threshold provides crucial information on the interplay between spontaneous and explicit chiral symmetry breaking in low-energy QCD. In this context the importance of kaonic deuterium X-ray spectroscopy has been well recognized, but no experimental results have yet been obtained due to the difficulty of the measurement. We propose to measure the shift and width of the kaonic deuterium 1s state with an accuracy of 60 eV and 140 eV respectively at J-PARC. These results together with the kaonic hydrogen data (KpX at KEK, DEAR and SIDDHARTA at DAFNE) will then permit the determination of values of both the isospin I=0 and I=1 antikaon-nucleon scattering lengths and will provide the most stringent constraints on the antikaon-nucleon interaction, promising a breakthrough. Refined Monte Carlo studies were performed, including the investigation of background suppression factors for the described setup. These studies have demonstrated the feasibility of determining the shift and width of the kaonic deuterium atom 1s state with the desired accuracy of 60 eV and 140 eV., 12 pages, 9 figures

CANDLES is the project to search for neutrino-less double beta decay ( 0νββ ) of 48 Ca. The observation of 0νββ will prove existence of a massive Majorana neutrino. For the 0νββ measurement, we need a low background condition because of a low decay rate of 0νββ . Now we installed the CANDLES III system at the Kamioka underground laboratory. The CANDLES III system realizes the low background condition by a characteristic structure and data analyses for background rejection. Here we report performances of the CANDLES III system.

We searched for the bound state of the neutron-rich Lambda-hypernucleus H-6(Lambda), using the Li-6(pi(-), K+)X double charge-exchange reaction at a pi-beam momentum of 1.2 GeV/c at J-PARC. A total of 1.4 x 10(12) pi(-) was driven onto a Li-6 target of 3.5-g/cm(2) thickness. No event was observed below the bound threshold, i.e., the mass of H-4(Lambda) + 2n, in the missing-mass spectrum of the Li-6(pi(-), K+) X reaction in the 2 degrees < theta(pi K) < 20 degrees angular range. Furthermore, no event was found up to 2.8 MeV/c(2) above the bound threshold. We obtained the double-differential cross section spectra of the Li-6(pi(-), K+)X reaction in the angular range of 2 degrees < theta(pi K) < 14 degrees. An upper limit of 0.56 nb/sr (90% C.L.) was obtained for the production cross section of the H-6(Lambda) hypernucleus bound state. In addition, not only the bound state region, but also the Lambda continuum region and part of the Sigma(-) quasifree production region of the Li-6(pi(-), K+) reaction were obtained with high statistics. The present missing-mass spectrum will facilitate the investigation of the Sigma(-) -nucleus optical potential for Sigma(-) -He-5 through spectrum shape analysis.

The neutrino-less double beta decay is acquiring great interest after the confirmation of neutrino oscillation which demonstrated nonzero neutrino mass. In order to search for neutrino-less double beta decay of $^{48}$Ca, we proposed the CANDLES project by using CaF$_{2}$(pure) scintillators. Now we installed the CANDLES III system at the Kamioka underground laboratory. The CANDLES III system realizes the low background condition by a characteristic structure and data analyses for background rejection. Furthermore we installed new shielding system in order to reduce $\gamma$-ray backgrounds from neutron capture reaction. Here we report performances of the CANDLES III system.

CANDLES(CAlcium fluoride for the study of Neutrinos and Dark matters by Low Energy Spectrometer) is the experiment to search for the neutrino-less double beta decay(0vββ) of 48Ca with CaF2 scintillator. 48Ca has the highest Q ββ -value (4.3 MeV) among all isotope candidates for 0vββ. It enables us to measure signals with very low background condition. After rejection analysis with 131 days × 86 kg data for background events from radioactive contaminations in the CaF2 scintillators, no events are observed in the Q ββ -value region. As a result, the half-life of 48Ca is greater than 6.2 × 1022 yr (90% confidence level). For further high sensitive measurement of 48Ca 0vββ search, we have been developing the 48Ca enrichment and CaF2 scintillating bolometer techniques. In this paper, the latest result for CANDLES and the status of scintillating bolometer development are described.

We have studied the neutrino-less double beta decay(0νββ) of 48Ca by using CaF2(pure) scintillators. Analysis for rejection of backgrounds(212Bi→ 212Po events and 208Tl events) was effective to reduce backgrounds in Qββ-value region. No events are observed in the Qββ-value region for the data of 131 days × 86 kg. It gives a lower limit (90% confidence level) of (math) > 6.2 × 1022 year (preliminary) for the half-life of 0νββ of 48Ca.

We have carried out an experiment to search for a neutron-rich hypernucleus, 6 H, by the 6 Li(π − , K + ) reaction at pπ− =1.2 GeV/c. The obtained missing-mass spectrum with an estimated energy resolution of 3.2 MeV (FWHM) showed no peak structure corresponding to the 6 H hypernucleus neither below nor above the 4 H+2n particle decay threshold. An upper limit of the production cross section for the bound 6 H hypernucleus was estimated to be 1.2 nb/sr at 90% confidence level.

A search for the K − p p bound state (the lightest kaonic nucleus) has been performed using the γ d → K + π − X reaction at E γ = 1.5 – 2.4 GeV at LEPS/SPring-8. The differential cross section of the K + π − photo-production off deuterium ( d 2 σ / d cos θ K + l a b / d cos θ π − l a b ) has been measured for the first time in this energy region. A peak structure was searched for in the inclusive missing mass spectrum. A statistically significant peak structure was not observed in the region from 2.22 to 2.36 GeV/c2. The upper limits of the differential cross section of the K − p p bound state production were determined to be (0.17–0.55), (0.55–1.7) and (1.1–2.9) μb at 95% confidence level with the assumed widths of 20 MeV, 60 MeV and 100 MeV.

WOS: 000322848900009, A novel experiment, aiming at demonstrating the feasibility of hypernuclear spectroscopy with heavy ion beams, was conducted. Using the invariant mass method, the spectroscopy of hypernuclear products of Li-6 projectiles on a carbon target at 2 A GeV was performed. Signals of the Lambda-hyperon and H-3(Lambda) and H-4(Lambda) hypernuclei were observed for final states of p + pi(-), He-3 + pi(-) and He-4 + pi(-), respectively, with significance values of 6.7, 4.7 and 4.9 sigma. By analyzing the proper decay time from secondary vertex distribution with the unbinned maximum likelihood fitting method, their lifetime values were deduced to be 262(-43)(+56) +/- 45 ps for Lambda, 183(-32)(+42) +/- 37 ps for H-3(Lambda), and 140(-33)(+48) +/- 35 ps for H-4(Lambda). (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., Electronics Department of the Institute for Nuclear Physics of Mainz University; Helmholtz association as Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Group at GSI [VH-NG-239]; German Research Foundation (DFG) [SA 1696/1-1]; Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan [18042008]; EU FP7 Hadron-Physics-2 SPHERE; GSI Department of Accelerator; GSI Department of Experimental Electronics; GSI Department of the Detector Laboratory; GSI Department of the Target Laboratory, The authors would like to thank the GSI Departments of Accelerator, of Experimental Electronics, of the Detector Laboratory and of the Target Laboratory and the Electronics Department of the Institute for Nuclear Physics of Mainz University for supporting the project. The HypHI project is funded by the Helmholtz association as Helmholtz-University Young Investigators Group VH-NG-239 at GSI, and the German Research Foundation (DFG) under contract number SA 1696/1-1. The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Priority Areas 449, and Grant-in-Aid for promotion of Cooperative Research in Osaka Electro-Communication University (2004-2006). This work is also supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan, Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research 18042008 and EU FP7 Hadron-Physics-2 SPHERE. A part of this work was carried out on the HIMSTER high performance computing infrastructure provided by the Helmholtz-Institute Mainz.

A γ-ray spectroscopy experiment via the C 12 ( π + , K + ) reaction was carried out at KEK-PS in 2005. The K6 beam line and Superconducting Kaon Spectrometer (SKS) were employed to obtain a missing mass spectrum for 12ΛC. An upgraded germanium detector array, Hyperball2, was introduced to detect γ rays emitted from hypernuclei in coincidence with the ( π + , K + ) reaction. As a result of further analysis, a γ-ray peak at 6048 keV (preliminary) was newly observed and assigned as the M1 transition from the 6-MeV excited state to the ground state.

The fundamental motivation to study the non-mesonic weak decay (NMWD) of hypernuclei is that it provides the unique means for study of baryon–baryon weak interaction in SU3f symmetry group. The new channel of NMWD, namely the recently confirmed three-body channel, seems to have a surprisingly big branching ratio so that it makes its accurate measurement prerequisite of the baryon–baryon weak interaction study. We report a new result of \({\Gamma_{2N}(^{11}_{\Lambda} {\rm B})}\) from E508 experiment of KEK-PS, though preliminary yet, which agrees with the previous result of \({^{12}_{\Lambda}}\) C from the same experiment, those from FINUDA experiment and those of the recent theoretical predictions.

We are planning to perform an experiment at J-PARC and produce new neutron-rich Λ hypernuclei by using the (π −, K +) reaction (J-PARC E10). As the first step, we are planning to produce $${^6_{\Lambda}{\rm H}}$$ hypernuclei with a 6Li target. To conduct this experiment, we are developing new detectors, those are scintillating fiber tracker, and silicon strip detector, for high rate operation to aim at increasing beam intensity up to 107/spill. As a result of beam test in Jun 2012, we are going to use high-rate beam at least 107/spill.

The J-PARC E15 experiment will be performed to search for the simplest kaonic nuclear bound state, K ¯ N N , by the in-flight He 3 ( K − , N ) reaction. The exclusive measurement will be performed by a simultaneous measurement of the missing mass using the forward neutron or proton, and the invariant mass via the expected decay, e.g. K − p p → Λ p → p π − p . In this report, an overview of the experiment and an analysis of engineering runs performed in February and June are presented.

The first experiment at the J-PARC hadron facility, the J-PARC E19 experiment, aims at searching for the Θ + pentaquark in the hadronic reaction π − p → K − X using the missing-mass technique. Based on a superconducting magnet excited at 2.5 T, the spectrometer achieved the high mass resolution of 1.4 MeV/c2 for the Θ + production process. The first data taking was performed in the autumn of 2010. No significant structure was observed in the missing-mass spectrum. The upper limit obtained for the differential cross section is 0.26 μb/sr in the laboratory frame at a 90 % CL.

The $\ensuremath{\phi}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}(1520)$ interference effect in the $\ensuremath{\gamma}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}p$ reaction has been measured for the first time in the energy range from 1.673 to 2.173 GeV. The relative phases between $\ensuremath{\phi}$ and $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}(1520)$ production amplitudes were obtained in the kinematic region where the two resonances overlap. The measurement results support strong constructive interference when ${K}^{+}{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ pairs are observed at forward angles but destructive interference for proton emission at forward angles. Furthermore, the observed interference effect does not account for the $\sqrt{s}=2.1\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{GeV}$ bump structure in forward differential cross sections for $\ensuremath{\phi}$ photoproduction. This fact suggests possible exotic structures such as a hidden-strangeness pentaquark state, a new Pomeron exchange, or rescattering processes via other hyperon states.

The fundamental motivation to study the non-mesonic weak decay (NMWD) of Λ hypernuclei is that it provides the unique channel for the information of the baryon–baryon weak interaction in SU3f group. The relative strength of the two main channels of NMWD whose decay processes are the Λp → np and Λn → nn has been the long standing puzzle during last several decades. The puzzling status has been settled down recently with the Γn / Γp value converging to \({\sim 0.5}\) . The large experimental values of Γn / Γp of the previous measurements turned out to be due to the surprisingly large contribution of the competing three-body NMWD, ΛNN → nNN process. This paper discusses about the first measurement of the branching ratio of the three-body NMWD process and the renormalized intra-nuclear cascade method adopted to disentangle the contribution of the three-body process out of those due to final state interaction. And the prospects of the more accurate measurement of the three-body process also are presented.

Fundamental interest on Non Mesonic Weak Decay (NMWD) is that it provides practically the only means to study the elementary ΔS = 1 baryon-baryon weak interaction process, Λ N → NN (Λ p → np and Λ n → nn ), since it is difficult to be realized in the free space. Thanks to the recent developments in experimental and theoretical studies, the relative strength of two channels, the Γn/Γp ratios whose experimental and theoretical values have showed a long standing discrepancy have been converged to ~ 0.5 and the discrepancy problem finally has been solved.1–3 However, despite the progresses, the decay interaction of NMWD is not yet well established and there remain the important issues such as the discrepancy of asymmetry parameter between experimental and theoretical values, confirmation of 3-body NMWD process, and whether the I = 1/2 rule for ΔS = 1 decay would hold or not in NMWD. Especially the recent experimental indication of the 3-body decay process Λ NN → NNN whose contribution was predicted to be significant in the theoretical calculations seems to be strong and showed a surprisingly large contribution in the quenching of singles and coincidence nucleon yields in NMWD. Recent results of the asymmetry parameter αnm of NMWD showed small values for both s -shell [Formula: see text] and p -shell [Formula: see text] and consistent with each other. However, the discrepancy of the theoretical values from those of experimental ones remains to be understood. It now becomes one of the urgent issues in NMWD study to determine the contribution of the 3-body NMWD channel experimentally, in order to understand the discrepancy of the asymmetry papameter, and to test the ΔI = 1/2 rule for NMWD which are the main purposes of J-PARC 50 GeV PS experiment, E18 and E22.