Abstract
The branching ratio for the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ weak radiative decay $\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}n\ensuremath{\gamma}$ has been measured. Three statistically independent results from the same experiment (Brookhaven E811) are reported here. They are combined with a previously published measurement, also from Brookhaven E811, to yield a result of $\frac{(\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}n\ensuremath{\gamma})}{(\ensuremath{\Lambda}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{anything})}=(1.75\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.15)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$, based on 1800 events after background subtraction. This represents a factor of 75 increase in statistics over the previous world total. A comparison with recent theoretical papers shows that no existing model provides a completely satisfactory description of all data on weak radiative decays. A search is also reported for the radiative capture process ${K}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\Sigma}(1385)\ensuremath{\gamma}$ at rest. No signal was observed and an upper limit on the branching ratio of $\frac{[{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\Sigma}(1385)\ensuremath{\gamma}]}{[{K}^{\ensuremath{-}}p\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{anything}]}<4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$ (90% C.L.) was determined.
Citation
ID:
272814
Ref Key:
larson1993physicalweak