Interpreting anomalous electron pairs as new particle decays
K. Asakimori, Kobe Women's Junior College
T. H. Burnett, University of Washington
M. L. Cherry, Louisiana State University
K. Chevli, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
M. J. Christl, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
S. Dake, Kobe University
J. H. Derrickson, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
W. F. Fountain, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
M. Fuki, Kochi University
J. C. Gregory, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
T. Hayashi, Waseda University
J. Iwai, University of Washington
A. Iyono, Okayama University of Science
J. Johnson, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
M. Kobayashi, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, Tsukuba
J. J. Lord, University of Washington
O. Miyamura, Hiroshima University
K. H. Moon, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
H. Oda, Kobe University
T. Ogata, Institute for Cosmic Ray Research
E. D. Olson, University of Washington
T. A. Parnell, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
F. E. Roberts, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
T. Shiina, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
S. C. Strausz, University of Washington
T. Sugitate, Hiroshima University
Y. Takahashi, The University of Alabama in Huntsville
T. Tominaga, Hiroshima International University
J. W. Watts, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
J. P. Wefel, Louisiana State University
B. Wilczyńska, Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
H. Wilczyński, Henryk Niewodniczanski Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences
R. J. Wilkes, University of Washington
Abstract
In heavy particle decays found in cosmic ray interactions recorded in the JACEE emulsion chambers, multiple electron pairs were previously reported. These pairs apparently originated from conversions of photons emitted in the decays. It is difficult to explain the overall properties of these decays in terms of known heavy particle decay modes. A recently published compilation of low-energy nuclear data suggests the presence of excess electron pairs with invariant mass of about 9 MeV/c2, which may be explained by postulating the existence of a new neutral boson decaying into the electron pair. The feasibility of explaining the JACEE electron pairs with this hypothesis is presented.
