Related papers: The DIRAC experiment at CERN

The DIRAC experiment, a magnetic double arm spectrometer, aims to measure the $\pi^+\pi^-$ atom lifetime with 10% precision, using the high intensity 24 GeV/c proton beam of the CERN Proton Synchrotron. Since the value of this lifetime of…

The aim of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is to provide an accurate determination of S-wave pion-pion scattering lengths from the measurement of the lifetime of the pi+ pi- atom. The measurement will be done with precision comparable to the…

The goal of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is to measure with high precision the lifetime of the $\pi^+\pi^-$ atom ($A_{2\pi}$), which is of order $3\times10^{-15}$ s, and thus to determine the s-wave $\pi\pi$-scattering lengths difference…

The goal of the DIRAC experiment at CERN (PS212) is to measure the $\pi^+\pi^-$ atom lifetime with 10% precision. Such a measurement would yield a precision of 5% on the value of the $S$-wave $\pi\pi$ scattering lengths combination…

We report the progress in the measurement of the pionium lifetime by the DIRAC Collaboration at CERN (PS212). Based on data collected in 2001-2003 on Ni targets we have achieved the precision of 11% in the measurement of the pionium…

The DIRAC experiment at CERN has achieved a sizeable production of $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms and has significantly improved the precision on its lifetime determination. From a sample of 21227 atomic pairs, a 4% measurement of the S-wave $\pi\pi$…

The DIRAC spectrometer has been commissioned at CERN with the aim of detecting $\pi^+ \pi^-$ atoms produced by a 24 GeV/$c$ high intensity proton beam in thin foil targets. A challenging apparatus is required to cope with the high…

The scattering lengths of a two pion system are the {\it golden magnitudes} to test the QCD predictions in the low energy sector. The DIRAC (PS-212) experiment at CERN will obtain a particular combination of the S-wave isospin 0 and 2…

After having announced the statistically significant observation (5.6~$\sigma$) of the new exotic $\pi K$ atom, the DIRAC experiment at the CERN proton synchrotron presents the measurement of the corresponding atom lifetime, based on the…

We performed the first direct calculation of the probability of pionium (pi+pi- atom) ionization in the target. The dependence of the probability of pionium ionization in the target as a function of the pionium lifetime is established.…

After observing and investigating the double-exotic $\pi^+\pi^-$ atom with the ground state lifetime $\tau$ of about $3 \times 10^{-15}$~s, the upgraded DIRAC experiment at the CERN PS accelerator observes for the first time long-lived…

We present evidence for the first observation of electromagnetically bound $\pi^\pm K^\mp$-pairs ($\pi K$-atoms) with the DIRAC experiment at the CERN-PS. The $\pi K$-atoms are produced by the 24 GeV/c proton beam in a thin Pt-target and…

Chiral Perturbation Theory predicts the lifetime of pionium, a hydrogen-like $\pi^+ \pi^-$ atom, to better than 3% precision. The goal of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is to obtain and check this value experimentally by measuring the…

The DIRAC Collaboration presents a first search for "atomic pi(+) pi(-) pairs" from ionization of pionium.

The lifetime measurement of pi+pi- atoms (A2pi) with 10% precision provides in a model independent way the difference between the S-wave pion-pion scattering lengths for isospin 0 and 2, |a0 -a2|, with 5% accuracy. The scattering lengths a0…

The adapted DIRAC experiment at the CERN PS accelerator observed for the first time long-lived hydrogen-like $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms, produced by protons hitting a beryllium target. A part of these atoms crossed the gap of 96~mm and got broken…

The experimental determination of the lifetime of pionium provides a very important test on chiral perturbation theory. This quantity is determined in the DIRAC experiment at CERN. In the analysis of this experiment, the breakup…

The pi+pi- atom decays -in the ground state - predominantly into two neutral pions. We present a general expression for the corresponding decay width in the framework of QCD (including photons). It contains all terms at leading and…

In the near future, the DIRAC collaboration will measure pion-pion scattering lengths with great precision. Those measurements are likely to shed some light on the problem of the size of the chiral quark-antiquark condensate. Although it is…

The multilevel trigger system of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is presented. It includes a fast first level trigger as well as various trigger processors to select events with a pair of pions having a low relative momentum typical of the…