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Title: Measurement of the charged kaon mass with the MIPP RICH

Thesis/Dissertation ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/961939· OSTI ID:961939
 [1]
  1. Indiana Univ., Bloomington, IN (United States)

The currently accepted value of the charged kaon mass is 493.677 ± 0.013 MeV (26 ppm). It is a weighted average of six measurements, most of which use kaonic atom X-ray energy techniques. The two most recent and precise results dominate the average but differ by 122 ppm. Inconsistency in the data set needs to be resolved, preferably using independent techniques. One possibility uses the Cherenkov effect. A measurement of the charged kaon mass using this technique is presented. The data was taken with the Main Injector Particle Production experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory using a tagged beam of protons, kaons, and pions ranging in momentum from 37 GeV/c to 63 GeV/c. The measured value is 491.3 ± 1.7 MeV. This is within 1.4σ of the current value. An improvement in precision by a factor of 35 would make this technique competitive for resolving the ambiguity in the X-ray data.

Research Organization:
Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11359
OSTI ID:
961939
Report Number(s):
FERMILAB-THESIS-2008-87; TRN: US0903514
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English