Experimental Review of ΛΛ¯ Production

Exclusive hyperon-antihyperon production provides a unique insight for understanding of the intrinsic dynamics when strangeness is involved. In this paper, we review the results of ΛΛ¯ production via different reactions from various experiments, e.g., via p¯p annihilation from the LEAR experiment PS185, via electron-positron annihilation using the energy scan method at the CLEO-c and BESIII experiments and the initial-state-radiation approach utilized at the BaBar experiment. The production cross section of ΛΛ¯ near the threshold is sensitive to QCD based prediction. Experimental high precision data for p¯p→Λ¯Λ close to the threshold region is obtained. The cross section of e+e−→ΛΛ¯ is measured from its production threshold to high energy. A non-zero cross section for e+e−→ΛΛ¯ near threshold is observed at BaBar and BESIII, which is in disagreement with the pQCD prediction. However, more precise data is needed to confirm this observation. Future experiments, utilizing p¯p reaction such as PANDA experiment or electron-positron annihilation such as the BESIII and BelleII experiments, are needed to extend the experimental data and to understand the ΛΛ¯ production.

Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy Insight on Free Volume Conversion of Nanostructured MgAl2O4 Ceramics

Herein we demonstrate the specifics of using the positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) method for the study of free volume changes in functional ceramic materials. Choosing technological modification of nanostructured MgAl2O4 spinel as an example, we show that for ceramics with well-developed porosity positron annihilation is revealed through two channels: positron trapping channel and ortho-positronium decay. Positron trapping in free-volume defects is described by the second component of spectra and ortho-positronium decay process by single or multiple components, depending on how well porosity is developed and on the experimental configuration. When using proposed positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy approaches, three components are the most suitable fit in the case of MgAl2O4 ceramics. In the analysis of the second component, it is shown that technological modification (increasing sintering temperature) leads to volume shrinking and decreases the number of defect-related voids. This process is also accompanied by the decrease of the size of nanopores (described by the third component), while the overall number of nanopores is not affected. The approach to the analysis of positron annihilation lifetime spectra presented here can be applied to a wide range of functional nanomaterials with pronounced porosity.

The physics program of the PADME experiment

PADME (Positron Annihilation into Dark Matter Experiment) is a fixed target experiment located at the Beam Test Facility (BTF) at the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati (LNF) designed to search for a massive dark photon A' in the process e+e- into γA', using a positron beam of energy up to 550 MeV.