DO NARROW SIGMA-HYPERNUCLEAR STATES EXIST

The Sigma hypernuclear problem has been the subject of intense experimental and theoretical debate for more than 15 years. Despite these efforts, the Sigma-nucleus interaction is not well understood. Experimental data have been taken on different targets at different momenta and at different conditions. These data suffer from poor resolution and insufficient statistics. Contradictions among the different sets of data often resulted more in clouding the issues than clarifying them. This paper aims at clearing up this long-standing problem. Hypernuclear mass spectra for in-flight (K-,pi(+/-)) reactions from H-1, H-2, Li-6 and Be-9 have been measured. Preliminary results based on analysis of the (K-,pi(+/-)) spectra from Be-9 are discussed.