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A New Measurement of the Pi0 Radiative Decay Width

Journal Article · · Phys.Rev.Lett.
High precision measurements of the differential cross sections for $$\pi^0$$ photoproduction at forward angles for two nuclei, $$^{12}$$C and $$^{208}$$Pb, have been performed for incident photon energies of 4.9 - 5.5 GeV to extract the $${\pi^0 \to \gamma\gamma}$$ decay width. The experiment was done at Jefferson Lab using the Hall~B photon tagger and a high-resolution multichannel calorimeter. The $${\pi^0 \to \gamma\gamma}$$ decay width was extracted by fitting the measured cross sections using recently updated theoretical models for the process. The resulting value for the decay width is $$\Gamma{(\pi^0 \to \gamma\gamma)} = 7.82 \pm 0.14 ~({\rm stat.}) \pm 0.17 ~({\rm syst.}) ~{\rm eV}$$. With the 2.8\% total uncertainty, this result is a factor of 2.5 more precise than the current PDG average of this fundamental quantity and it is consistent with current theoretical predictions.
Research Organization:
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-06OR23177
OSTI ID:
1015428
Report Number(s):
JLAB-PHY-10-1229; DOE/OR/23177-1332; arXiv:1009.1681
Journal Information:
Phys.Rev.Lett., Journal Name: Phys.Rev.Lett. Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 106; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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