English

Measurement of the Pion Polarizability at COMPASS

High Energy Physics - Experiment 2014-02-13 v2 Nuclear Experiment

Abstract

The value of the pion polarizability is predicted with high precision by Chiral Perturbation Theory. However, the existing experimental values are at tension with this prediction as well as among themselves. The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS accesses pion-photon reactions via the Primakoff effect, where high-energetic pions react with the quasi-real photon field surrounding the target nuclei. Flagship channel is the Primakoff reaction in which a single real photon is produced, giving access to pion Compton scattering. Using this process the pion polarizability is extracted from the measured cross-section shape. End of 2009 COMPASS performed a measurement of the pion polarizability using a nickel target. The large amount of data collected in combination with the possibility to study systematic effects using the analogous reaction with a muon beam, the most precise experimental value to date was determined.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1401.4760,
  title  = {Measurement of the Pion Polarizability at COMPASS},
  author = {Stefan Huber},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1401.4760},
  year   = {2014}
}

Comments

Proceedings for the XV International Conference on Hadron Spectroscopy, 4-8 November 2013, Nara (Japan)