The lightest neutral hypernuclei with strangeness -1 and -2
Résumé
Our current knowledge of the baryon--baryon interaction suggests that the dineutron $(n,n)$ and its strange analogue $(\Lambda,n)$ are unstable. In contrast, the situation is more favourable for the strange three-body system $(n,n,\Lambda)$, and even better for the four-body system $T=(n,n,\Lambda,\Lambda)$ with strangeness $-2$, which is likely to be stable under spontaneous dissociation. This new nucleus could be produced and identified in central deuteron--deuteron collisions via reaction $d+d\to T+K^++K^+$, and the tetrabaryon $T$ could play an important role in catalysing the formation of a strange core in neutron stars.