Detection of Pionium with DIRAC

Abstract

The aim of the DIRAC experiment at CERN is to provide an accurate determination of S-wave pion-pion scattering lengths from the measurement of the lifetime of the pi+ pi- atom. The measurement will be done with precision comparable to the level of accuracy of theoretical predictions, formulated in the context of Chiral Perturbation Theory. Therefore, the understanding of chiral symmetry breaking of QCD will be submitted to a stringent test.

arXiv comment6 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the Eight International Symposium on Meson-Nucleon Physics (MENU99), August 15-21,1999 Zouz, Switzerland