arXiv subjects

H. Y. Yoshida

Publications and source records attributed to H. Y. Yoshida.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The Search for $K_L \rightarrow π^0π^0γγ$ and $K_L\rightarrow π^0π^0X$ where $X\rightarrow 2γ$ at the KOTO Experiment

We performed searches for $K_L\rightarrow π^0π^0X$ where $X$ may be an axion-like particle which promptly decays to two photons, and the first search for $K_L \rightarrow π^0π^0γγ$ at the KOTO experiment using data taken in 2021. The search is performed for $X$ mass in the range of 160$\unicode{x2013}$220 MeV/$c^2$. Three events were observed in the signal region, with two events near an $X$ mass of 177 MeV/$c^2$. This result led to a range of upper limits on the branching ratio, BR($K_L\rightarrow π^0π^0X$) $< (1\unicode{x2013}20) \times 10^{-7}$ at the 95% confidence level (C.L.). No events were observed for the analysis of $K_L \rightarrow π^0π^0γγ$, setting an upper limit on the branching ratio, BR($K_L \rightarrow π^0π^0γγ$) $< 1.69 \times 10^{-6}$ at the 95% C.L.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2025

Search for the $K_{L} \to π^{0} ν\barν$ Decay at the J-PARC KOTO Experiment

We performed a search for the $K_L \to π^{0} ν\barν$ decay using the data taken in 2021 at the J-PARC KOTO experiment. With newly installed counters and new analysis method, the expected background was suppressed to $0.252\pm0.055_{\mathrm{stat}}$$^{+0.052}_{-0.067}$$_{\mathrm{syst}}$. With a single event sensitivity of $(9.33 \pm 0.06_{\rm stat} \pm 0.84_{\rm syst})\times 10^{-10}$, no events were observed in the signal region. An upper limit on the branching fraction for the decay was set to be $2.2\times10^{-9}$ at the 90% confidence level (C.L.), which improved the previous upper limit from KOTO by a factor of 1.4. With the same data, a search for $K_L \to π^{0} X^{0}$ was also performed, where $X^{0}$ is an invisible boson with a mass ranging from 1 MeV/$c^{2}$ to 260 MeV/$c^{2}$. For $X^{0}$ with a mass of 135 MeV/$c^{2}$, an upper limit on the branching fraction of $K_L \to π^{0} X^{0}$ was set to be $1.6\times10^{-9}$ at the 90% C.L.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2023

Search for the Pair Production of Dark Particles $X$ with $K_L^0 \to XX$, $X \to γγ$

We present the first search for the pair production of dark particles $X$ via $K_L^0\to XX$ with $X$ decaying into two photons using the data collected by the KOTO experiment. No signal was observed in the mass range of 40 - 110 MeV/c$^2$ and 210 - 240 MeV/c$^2$. This sets upper limits on the branching fractions as $\mathcal{B}(K_L^0 \to XX)$ $<$ (1-4) $\times$ 10$^{-7}$ and $\mathcal{B}(K_L^0 \to XX)$ $<$ (1-2) $\times$ 10$^{-6}$ at the 90% confidence level for the two mass regions, respectively.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2022

Coherent photoproduction of the neutral pion and eta meson on the deuteron at incident energies below 1.15 GeV

Coherent photoproduction of the neutral pion and eta meson on the deuteron, $γ{d}${$\to$}$π^0η{d}$, has been experimentally studied at incident photon energies ranging from the reaction threshold to 1.15 GeV. The total cross section demonstrates a rapid rise below 1 GeV. The data are underestimated by the existing theoretical calculations based on quasi-free $π^0 η$ photoproduction on the nucleon followed by deuteron coalescence. At the same time, the data are rather well reproduced by the calculations taking into account the final-state interaction. We have also measured for the first time the differential cross sections: the $π^0 η$ invariant-mass distribution $dσ/dM_{πη}$, the $π^0 d$ invariant-mass distribution $dσ/dM_{πd}$, the $ηd$ invariant-mass distribution $dσ/dM_{ηd}$, and the distribution over the deuteron emission angle $dσ/dΩ_d$ in the overall center-of-mass frame. The measured cross section $dσ/dΩ_d$ does not exhibit strongly backward-peaking behavior predicted by the calculations. At all incident energies, an increase in $dσ/dM_{ηd}$ near the $ηd$ threshold is observed, which indicates a bound or virtual $ηd$ state resulting from a strong attraction between $η$ and a deuteron. The possibilities of using coherent $π^0η$ photoproduction on a nucleus to study the $η$-nuclear interaction are also discussed.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

Resonance-like structure near the $ηd$ threshold in the $γ{d}${$\to$}$π^0η{d}$ reaction

To investigate the interaction between the nucleon $N$ and nucleon resonance $N(1535)1/2^-$, the $ηd$ threshold structure connected to the isoscalar $S$-wave $N$-$N(1535)1/2^-$ system has been experimentally studied in the $γ{d}${$\to$}$π^0η{d}$ reaction at incident photon energies ranging from the reaction threshold to 1.15 GeV. A strong enhancement is observed near the $ηd$ threshold over the three-body phase-space contribution in the $ηd$ invariant-mass distribution. An analysis incorporating the known isovector resonance $\mathcal{D}_{12}$ with a spin-parity of $2^+$ in the $π^0d$ channel reveals the existence of a narrow isoscalar resonance-like structure with $1^-$ in the $ηd$ system. Using a Flatté parametrization, the mass is found to be $2.427_{-0.006}^{+0.013}$ GeV, close to the $ηd$ threshold, and the width is $\left(0.029_{-0.029}^{+0.006}{\rm\ GeV}\right)+\left(0.00_{-0.00}^{+0.41}\right) p_ηc$, where $p_η$ denotes the $η$ momentum in the rest frame of the $ηd$ system. The observed structure would be attributed to a predicted isoscalar $1^-$ $ηNN$ bound state from $ηNN$ and $πNN$ coupled-channel calculation, or an $ηd$ virtual state owing to strong $ηd$ attraction.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2021

First Search for the $K_L \to π^0 γ$ Decay

We report the first search for the $K_L \to π^0 γ$ decay, which is forbidden by Lorentz invariance, using the data from 2016 to 2018 at the J-PARC KOTO experiment. With a single event sensitivity of $(7.1\pm 0.3_{\rm stat.} \pm 1.6_{\rm syst.})\times 10^{-8}$, no candidate event was observed in the signal region. The upper limit on the branching fraction was set to be $1.7\times 10^{-7}$ at the 90\% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2021

Study of the $K_L \!\to\! π^0 ν\overlineν$ Decay at the J-PARC KOTO Experiment

The rare decay $K_L \!\to\! π^0 ν\overlineν$ was studied with the dataset taken at the J-PARC KOTO experiment in 2016, 2017, and 2018. With a single event sensitivity of $( 7.20 \pm 0.05_{\rm stat} \pm 0.66_{\rm syst} ) \times 10^{-10}$, three candidate events were observed in the signal region. After unveiling them, contaminations from $K^{\pm}$ and scattered $K_L$ decays were studied, and the total number of background events was estimated to be $1.22 \pm 0.26$. We conclude that the number of observed events is statistically consistent with the background expectation. For this dataset, we set an upper limit of $4.9 \times 10^{-9}$ on the branching fraction of $K_L \!\to\! π^0 ν\overlineν$ at the 90% confidence level.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2019

$ωN$ scattering length from $ω$ photoproduction on the proton near the threshold

Photoproduction of the $ω$ meson on the proton has been experimentally studied near the threshold. The total cross sections are determined at incident energies ranging from 1.09 to 1.15 GeV. The 1/2 and 3/2 spin-averaged scattering length $a_{ωp}$ and effective range $r_{ωp}$ between the $ω$ meson and proton are estimated from the shape of the total cross section as a function of the incident photon energy: $a_{ωp} = \left(-0.97^{+0.16_{\rm stat}}_{-0.16_{\rm stat}}{}^{+0.03_{\rm syst}}_{-0.00_{\rm syst}}\right)+i \left(0.07^{+0.15_{\rm stat}}_{-0.14_{\rm stat}}{}^{+0.17_{\rm syst}}_{-0.09_{\rm syst}}\right)$ fm and $r_{ωp}=\left(+2.78^{+0.68_{\rm stat}}_{-0.54_{\rm stat}}{}^{+0.11_{\rm syst}}_{-0.13_{\rm syst}}\right)+i\left(-0.01^{+0.46_{\rm stat}}_{-0.50_{\rm stat}}{}^{+0.07_{\rm syst}}_{-0.00_{\rm syst}}\right)$ fm, resulting in a repulsive force. The real and imaginary parts for $a_{ωp}$ and $r_{ωp}$ are determined separately for the first time. A small $P$-wave contribution does not affect the obtained values.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2019

Search for $K_L \!\to\! π^0 ν\overlineν$ and $K_L \!\to\! π^0 X^0$ Decays at the J-PARC KOTO Experiment

A search for the rare decay $K_L \!\to\! π^0 ν\overlineν$ was performed. With the data collected in 2015, corresponding to $2.2 \times 10^{19}$ protons on target, a single event sensitivity of $( 1.30 \pm 0.01_{\rm stat} \pm 0.14_{\rm syst} ) \times 10^{-9}$ was achieved and no candidate events were observed. We set an upper limit of $3.0 \times 10^{-9}$ for the branching fraction of $K_L \!\to\! π^0 ν\overlineν$ at the 90% confidence level (C.L.), which improved the previous limit by almost an order of magnitude. An upper limit for $K_L \!\to\! π^0 X^0$ was also set as $2.4 \times 10^{-9}$ at the 90% C.L., where $X^0$ is an invisible boson with a mass of $135~{\rm MeV}/c^2$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2018

Non-strange Dibaryon Resonances Observed in the $γd\to π^0π^0 d$ Reaction

Coherent double neutral-pion photoproduction on the deuteron, $γ{d}${$\to$}$π^0π^0{d}$, has been experimentally studied at incident photon energies ranging from 0.75 to 1.15 GeV. The total cross section as a function of the $γ{d}$ center-of-mass energy shows resonance-like behavior, which peaks at approximately 2.47 and 2.63 GeV. The measured angular distribution of deuteron emission is rather flat, which cannot be reproduced by the kinematics of quasi-free $π^0π^0$ production with deuteron coalescence. In $π^0d $ invariant-mass distributions, a clear peak is observed at $2.14{\pm}0.01$ GeV$/c^2$ with a width of $0.09{\pm}0.01$ GeV$/c^2$. The spin-parity of this state is restricted to $1^+$, $2^+$ or $3^-$ from the angular distributions of the two $π^0$s. The present work shows strong evidence for the existence of an isovector dibaryon resonance with a mass of 2.14 GeV$/c^2$. The $2^+$ assignment is consistent with the theoretically predicted ${\cal{D}}_{12}$ state, and also with the energy dependence of the $π{d}$ partial-wave amplitude $^3\!P_2$ for the $π^{\pm}d${$\to$}$π^{\pm}d$ and $π^+d${$\to$}${pp}$ reactions.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2017

First measurement of coherent double neutral-pion photoproduction on the deuteron at incident energies below 0.9 GeV

The total cross sections were measured for coherent double neutral-pion photoproduction on the deuteron at incident energies below 0.9 GeV for the first time. No clear resonance-like behavior is observed in the excitation function for $W_{γd}=2.38$--2.61 GeV, where the $d^*(2380)$ dibaryon resonance observed at COSY is expected to appear. The measured excitation function is consistent with the existing theoretical calculation for this reaction. The upper limit of the total cross section is found to be $0.034$~$μ$b for the dibaryon resonance at $W_{γd}=2.37$~GeV (90\% confidence level) in the $γd \to π^0π^0 d$ reaction.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2016

A new search for the $K_{L} \to π^0 ν\overlineν$ and $K_{L} \to π^{0} X^{0}$ decays

We searched for the $CP$-violating rare decay of neutral kaon, $K_{L} \to π^0 ν\overlineν$, in data from the first 100 hours of physics running in 2013 of the J-PARC KOTO experiment. One candidate event was observed while $0.34\pm0.16$ background events were expected. We set an upper limit of $5.1\times10^{-8}$ for the branching fraction at the 90\% confidence level (C.L.). An upper limit of $3.7\times10^{-8}$ at the 90\% C.L. for the $K_{L} \to π^{0} X^{0}$decay was also set for the first time, where $X^{0}$ is an invisible particle with a mass of 135 MeV/$c^{2}$.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2016

An event mixing technique for Bose-Einstein correlations of two pions in photoproduction around 1 GeV

We have developed an event mixing technique to observe Bose-Einstein correlations (BEC) between two identical neutral pions produced in photo-induced reactions in the non-perturbative QCD energy region. It is found that the missing-mass consistency cut and the pion-energy cut are essential for the event mixing method to effectively extract BEC observables. A Monte Carlo (MC) simulation is used to validate these constraints and confirms the efficiency of this method. Our work paves the way for similar BEC studies at lower energies where the multiplicity of emitted bosons is limited.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2016

Long-lived neutral-kaon flux measurement for the KOTO experiment

The KOTO ($K^0$ at Tokai) experiment aims to observe the CP-violating rare decay $K_L \rightarrow π^0 ν\barν$ by using a long-lived neutral-kaon beam produced by the 30 GeV proton beam at the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex. The $K_L$ flux is an essential parameter for the measurement of the branching fraction. Three $K_L$ neutral decay modes, $K_L \rightarrow 3π^0$, $K_L \rightarrow 2π^0$, and $K_L \rightarrow 2γ$ were used to measure the $K_L$ flux in the beam line in the 2013 KOTO engineering run. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to estimate the detector acceptance for these decays. Agreement was found between the simulation model and the experimental data, and the remaining systematic uncertainty was estimated at the 1.4\% level. The $K_L$ flux was measured as $(4.183 \pm 0.017_{\mathrm{stat.}} \pm 0.059_{\mathrm{sys.}}) \times 10^7$ $K_L$ per $2\times 10^{14}$ protons on a 66-mm-long Au target.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2011

Study of the K0(L) --> pi0 pi0 nu nu-bar decay

The rare decay K0(L) --> pi0 pi0 nu nu-bar was studied with the E391a detector at the KEK 12-GeV proton synchrotron. Based on 9.4 x 10^9 K0L decays, an upper limit of 8.1 x 10^{-7} was obtained for the branching fraction at 90% confidence level. We also set a limit on the K0(L) --> pi0 pi0 X (X --> invisible particles) process; the limit on the branching fraction varied from 7.0 x 10^{-7} to 4.0 x 10^{-5} for the mass of X ranging from 50 MeV/c^2 to 200 MeV/c^2.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2010

Search for the decay $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3γ$

We performed a search for the decay $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3γ$ with the E391a detector at KEK. In the data accumulated in 2005, no event was observed in the signal region. Based on the assumption of $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3γ$ proceeding via parity-violation, we obtained the single event sensitivity to be $(3.23\pm0.14)\times10^{-8}$, and set an upper limit on the branching ratio to be $7.4\times10^{-8}$ at the 90% confidence level. This is a factor of 3.2 improvement compared to the previous results. The results of $K_L^0 \rightarrow 3γ$ proceeding via parity-conservation were also presented in this paper.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2009

Search for a light pseudoscalar particle in the decay $K^0_L \to π^0 π^0 X$

We performed a search for a light pseudoscalar particle $X$ in the decay $K_L^0->pi0pi0X$, $X->γγ$ with the E391a detector at KEK. Such a particle with a mass of 214.3 MeV/$c^2$ was suggested by the HyperCP experiment. We found no evidence for $X$ and set an upper limit on the product branching ratio for $K_L^0->pi0pi0X$, $X->γγ$ of $2.4 \times 10^{-7}$ at the 90% confidence level. Upper limits on the branching ratios in the mass region of $X$ from 194.3 to 219.3 MeV/$c^2$ are also presented.

hep-ex↗

arXiv2005

Photoproduction of $η$-mesons off C and Cu nuclei for photon energies below 1.1 GeV

The $η$-meson photoproduction cross sections have been measured on the C and Cu targets for the photon energies between 600 and 1100 MeV to investigate the behavior of the $S_{11}$(1535) resonance in a nucleus. The excitation functions of the cross section as well as the angular and momentum distributions of $η$-mesons are in quantitative agreement with the Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) model calculations in which the $η$-meson emission processes other than the $S_{11}$(1535) resonance are also incorporated as proposed in the $η$-MAID model. It is shown that the excitation of the $D_{15}$(1675) resonance might play an important role for $E_γ>900$ MeV.

nucl-ex↗