Hints of New Physics in the Decay Sigma-plus -> proton + mu-plus + mu-minus
Abstract
The HyperCP (E871) experiment collected several billion hyperon decays in the 1997 and 1999 Fermilab fixed-target running periods. Using the data from the 1999 run, we report on the observation of three isolated events with reconstructed masses consistent with the hypothesis Sigma-plus -> proton + mu-plus + mu-minus. This is the rarest baryon decay ever observed. The dimuon mass distribution is unexpectedly narrow, suggesting the decay may proceed via an intermediate state of mass 214.3 +/- 0.5 MeV/c2. This state is consistent with a short-lived pseudoscalar sgoldstino with parity-conserving interactions decaying into two unlike-sign muons.
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