First measurement of kaonic deuterium X-ray transitions

Abstract

The study of the strong interaction among hadrons at low energies remains one of the key challenges in fundamental physics because of its non-perturbative nature, which makes theoretical descriptions strongly dependent on experimental input. Although substantial progress has been made for systems involving up and down quarks, theoretical models in the strangeness sector continue to face limitations due to the lack of experimental data. Kaonic atoms provide a powerful tool to study the low-energy strong interaction with strangeness through the energy shifts and widths induced on their lowest atomic levels. In this context, kaonic deuterium X-ray spectroscopy has long represented one of the major open challenges in hadronic-atom physics because of its extremely low X-ray yield. This measurement is particularly important because it gives access to the experimentally inaccessible $K^-n$ interaction at threshold energy. Here, we report the first observation of kaonic deuterium X-ray transitions, performed with the SIDDHARTA-2 experiment at the DA$\Phi$NE collider. We determine the strong-interaction shift and width of the $1s$ level to be $\varepsilon_{1s}=-810.9\pm24.5\,(\mathrm{stat})\pm2.1\,(\mathrm{syst})\,\mathrm{eV}$ and $\Gamma_{1s}=812\pm97\,(\mathrm{stat})\pm33\,(\mathrm{syst})\,\mathrm{eV}$, respectively. This measurement constitutes the most precise experimental determination of the $K^-d$ strong interaction at threshold and allows discrimination among competing theoretical models. Combined with the kaonic hydrogen measurement, this result provides the experimental input required to determine the isospin-dependent $K^-N$ scattering lengths, with implications for the description of the nature of the first predicted hadronic molecular state, the $\Lambda(1405)$, and neutron-rich matter.