Speaker
Dr
Alexander Somov
(Jefferson Lab)
Description
The GlueX detector in the experimental Hall D at Jefferson Lab
was designed to search for gluonic excitations in the spectra
of light mesons using photon beams. The detector provides a unique
capability to perform a precision measurement of the eta -> gamma gamma
decay width via the Primakoff effect (PrimEx D experiment) and study rare
decays of eta mesons.
Measurement of the eta decay width is essential for the determination
of fundamental properties such as the ratios of the light quark
masses and the eta - eta' mixing angle, and will provide an
important test of chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. The physics of rare
eta decays spans from critical tests of chiral perturbation
theory to the search for lepto-phobic dark matter candidates.
I will give an overview of the ongoing PrimEx D experiment and the
physics program of rare eta decays, and discuss GlueX plans for the
future.
Primary author
Dr
Alexander Somov
(Jefferson Lab)
