A measurement of the magnetic moment of the Λ hyperon

A pulsed magnetic field of 150 kG was applied in a transverse direction to the path of polarized Λ0 hyperons created by bombarding a polyethylene target with 1.05 GeV/c negative pions. In the interval of distance between 10 and 12 cm from the target, the hyperons decaying in the mode Λ0 → p + π− were detected in llford nuclear-research emulsions. The observation of the anisotropy in direction of the decay products in the rest frames of the hyperons was used to measure the rotation of the polarization vector, in the magnetic field and hence to determine the magnetic moment (μΛ) of the Λ0 hyperon. An analysis of 151 decays has given a value for μΛ=(−0.05±0.28) nucleon magnetons.