Measurement of the mass difference and the binding energy of the hypertriton and antihypertriton

doi:10.1038/s41567-020-0799-7

Measurement of the mass difference and the binding energy of the hypertriton and antihypertriton

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Abstract

According to the CPT theorem, which states that the combined operation of charge conjugation, parity transformation and time reversal must be conserved, particles and their antiparticles should have the same mass and lifetime but opposite charge and magnetic moment. Here, we test CPT symmetry in a nucleus containing a strange quark, more specifically in the hypertriton. This hypernucleus is the lightest one yet discovered and consists of a proton, a neutron and a Λ hyperon. With data recorded by the STAR detector^1–3 at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, we measure the Λ hyperon binding energy B_Λ for the hypertriton, and find that it differs from the widely used value⁴ and from predictions^5–8, where the hypertriton is treated as a weakly bound system. Our results place stringent constraints on the hyperon–nucleon interaction^9,10 and have implications for understanding neutron star interiors, where strange matter may be present¹¹. A precise comparison of the masses of the hypertriton and the antihypertriton allows us to test CPT symmetry in a nucleus with strangeness, and we observe no deviation from the expected exact symmetry.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	409-412
Number of pages	4
Journal	Nature Physics
Volume	16
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-020-0799-7
State	Published - Apr 1 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

Funding

The STAR Collaboration acknowledges contributions from V. Dexheimer, F. Hildenbrand and H.-W. Hammer. We thank the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) Operations Group and the RHIC Computing Facility (RCF) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), the National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Open Science Grid Consortium for providing resources and support. This work was supported in part by the Office of Nuclear Physics within the US Department of Energy Office of Science, the US National Science Foundation, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Chinese Academy of Science, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China and the Chinese Ministry of Education, the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Czech Science Foundation and Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office, the New National Excellency Programme of the Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities, the Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, the National Science Centre of Poland, the Ministry of Science, Education and Sports of the Republic of Croatia, RosAtom of Russia and the German Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF) and the Helmholtz Association.

Funders	Funder number
Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology
Hungarian Ministry of Human Capacities
RosAtom of Russia
National Science Foundation (NSF)	1913789
Office of Science Programs
Institute for Nuclear Physics
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy
Grantová Agentura České Republiky
Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China
Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China
Ministarstvo Obrazovanja, Znanosti i Sporta
Ministry for Education and Science of the Russian Federation
National Research Foundation of Korea
Narodowe Centrum Nauki
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association
Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie
Nemzeti Kutatási Fejlesztési és Innovációs Hivatal

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Physics and Astronomy

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10.1038/s41567-020-0799-7

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@article{32384fa10cce487c9e604d262fa0de56,

title = "Measurement of the mass difference and the binding energy of the hypertriton and antihypertriton",

abstract = "According to the CPT theorem, which states that the combined operation of charge conjugation, parity transformation and time reversal must be conserved, particles and their antiparticles should have the same mass and lifetime but opposite charge and magnetic moment. Here, we test CPT symmetry in a nucleus containing a strange quark, more specifically in the hypertriton. This hypernucleus is the lightest one yet discovered and consists of a proton, a neutron and a Λ hyperon. With data recorded by the STAR detector1–3 at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, we measure the Λ hyperon binding energy BΛ for the hypertriton, and find that it differs from the widely used value4 and from predictions5–8, where the hypertriton is treated as a weakly bound system. Our results place stringent constraints on the hyperon–nucleon interaction9,10 and have implications for understanding neutron star interiors, where strange matter may be present11. A precise comparison of the masses of the hypertriton and the antihypertriton allows us to test CPT symmetry in a nucleus with strangeness, and we observe no deviation from the expected exact symmetry.",

author = "J. Adam and L. Adamczyk and Adams, {J. R.} and Adkins, {J. K.} and G. Agakishiev and Aggarwal, {M. M.} and Z. Ahammed and I. Alekseev and Anderson, {D. M.} and A. Aparin and Aschenauer, {E. C.} and Ashraf, {M. U.} and Atetalla, {F. G.} and A. Attri and Averichev, {G. S.} and V. Bairathi and K. Barish and A. Behera and R. Bellwied and A. Bhasin and J. Bielcik and J. Bielcikova and Bland, {L. C.} and Bordyuzhin, {I. G.} and Brandenburg, {J. D.} and Brandin, {A. V.} and J. Butterworth and H. Caines and {de la Barca S{\'a}nchez}, {M. Calder{\'o}n} and D. Cebra and I. Chakaberia and P. Chaloupka and Chan, {B. K.} and Chang, {F. H.} and Z. Chang and N. Chankova-Bunzarova and A. Chatterjee and D. Chen and Chen, {J. H.} and X. Chen and Z. Chen and J. Cheng and M. Cherney and M. Chevalier and S. Choudhury and W. Christie and Crawford, {H. J.} and M. Csan{\'a}d and M. Daugherity and R. Fatemi",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2020",

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doi = "10.1038/s41567-020-0799-7",

language = "English",

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AU - Adam, J.

AU - Adamczyk, L.

AU - Adams, J. R.

AU - Adkins, J. K.

AU - Agakishiev, G.

AU - Aggarwal, M. M.

AU - Ahammed, Z.

AU - Alekseev, I.

AU - Anderson, D. M.

AU - Aparin, A.

AU - Aschenauer, E. C.

AU - Ashraf, M. U.

AU - Atetalla, F. G.

AU - Attri, A.

AU - Averichev, G. S.

AU - Bairathi, V.

AU - Barish, K.

AU - Behera, A.

AU - Bellwied, R.

AU - Bhasin, A.

AU - Bielcik, J.

AU - Bielcikova, J.

AU - Bland, L. C.

AU - Bordyuzhin, I. G.

AU - Brandenburg, J. D.

AU - Brandin, A. V.

AU - Butterworth, J.

AU - Caines, H.

AU - de la Barca Sánchez, M. Calderón

AU - Cebra, D.

AU - Chakaberia, I.

AU - Chaloupka, P.

AU - Chan, B. K.

AU - Chang, F. H.

AU - Chang, Z.

AU - Chankova-Bunzarova, N.

AU - Chatterjee, A.

AU - Chen, D.

AU - Chen, J. H.

AU - Chen, X.

AU - Chen, Z.

AU - Cheng, J.

AU - Cherney, M.

AU - Chevalier, M.

AU - Choudhury, S.

AU - Christie, W.

AU - Crawford, H. J.

AU - Csanád, M.

AU - Daugherity, M.

AU - Fatemi, R.

PY - 2020/4/1

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N2 - According to the CPT theorem, which states that the combined operation of charge conjugation, parity transformation and time reversal must be conserved, particles and their antiparticles should have the same mass and lifetime but opposite charge and magnetic moment. Here, we test CPT symmetry in a nucleus containing a strange quark, more specifically in the hypertriton. This hypernucleus is the lightest one yet discovered and consists of a proton, a neutron and a Λ hyperon. With data recorded by the STAR detector1–3 at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, we measure the Λ hyperon binding energy BΛ for the hypertriton, and find that it differs from the widely used value4 and from predictions5–8, where the hypertriton is treated as a weakly bound system. Our results place stringent constraints on the hyperon–nucleon interaction9,10 and have implications for understanding neutron star interiors, where strange matter may be present11. A precise comparison of the masses of the hypertriton and the antihypertriton allows us to test CPT symmetry in a nucleus with strangeness, and we observe no deviation from the expected exact symmetry.

AB - According to the CPT theorem, which states that the combined operation of charge conjugation, parity transformation and time reversal must be conserved, particles and their antiparticles should have the same mass and lifetime but opposite charge and magnetic moment. Here, we test CPT symmetry in a nucleus containing a strange quark, more specifically in the hypertriton. This hypernucleus is the lightest one yet discovered and consists of a proton, a neutron and a Λ hyperon. With data recorded by the STAR detector1–3 at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, we measure the Λ hyperon binding energy BΛ for the hypertriton, and find that it differs from the widely used value4 and from predictions5–8, where the hypertriton is treated as a weakly bound system. Our results place stringent constraints on the hyperon–nucleon interaction9,10 and have implications for understanding neutron star interiors, where strange matter may be present11. A precise comparison of the masses of the hypertriton and the antihypertriton allows us to test CPT symmetry in a nucleus with strangeness, and we observe no deviation from the expected exact symmetry.

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Measurement of the mass difference and the binding energy of the hypertriton and antihypertriton

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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