Measurements of the lightest hypernucleus (HΛ3): progress and perspective

Jinhui Chen; Xin Dong; Yu-Gang Ma; Zhangbu Xu

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2023.11.045

Measurements of the lightest hypernucleus (HΛ3): progress and perspective

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2023 Dec 30;68(24):3252-3260. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.11.045. Epub 2023 Nov 23.

Authors

Jinhui Chen¹, Xin Dong², Yu-Gang Ma³, Zhangbu Xu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Ion-beam Application (Ministry of Education), Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Research Center for Theoretical Nuclear Physics, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China. Electronic address: chenjinhui@fudan.edu.cn.
² Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley CA 94720, USA. Electronic address: xdong@lbl.gov.
³ Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Ion-beam Application (Ministry of Education), Institute of Modern Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China; Shanghai Research Center for Theoretical Nuclear Physics, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China. Electronic address: mayugang@fudan.edu.cn.
⁴ Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton NY 11973, USA. Electronic address: xzb@bnl.gov.

PMID: 38030521
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.11.045

Abstract

The hyperon-nucleon (Y-N) interaction is important for the description of the equation-of-state of high baryon density matter. Hypernuclei, the cluster object of nucleons and hyperons, serve as cornerstones of a full understanding of the Y-N interaction. Recent measurements of the lightest known hypernucleus, the hypertriton's (HΛ3) and anti-hypertriton's (H¯Λ¯3) lifetime, mass and Λ separation energy have attracted interests on the subject. Its cross section and collective flow parameters have also been measured in heavy-ion collisions, which have revealed new features on its production mechanism. In this article we summarise recent measurements of HΛ3, focusing on the heavy-ion collisions. We will discuss their implications for the HΛ3 properties and the constrains on the Y-N interaction models.

Keywords: Heavy-ion collisions; Hypernuclei; Hyperon-nucleon interaction.

Publication types

Review