Proton emitting Λ-bound states of 16ΛO*

An analysis of emulsion data on the K- meson capture reaction on oxygen, K-16O → π- p 15ΛN reveals the formationof two intermediate states of the hypernucleus 16ΛO* which subsequently decay by proton emission. The states are relatively broad, as expected for Q-values of a few MeV, and are attributed to the 0+ and 2+ levels of 16ΛO from the configurations [(p1/2)-1N (p1/2.3/2)Λ] with Λ-binding energies equal to 1.54 ± 0.09 MeV and 3.10 ± 0.08 MeV, respectively, where BΛ for 15ΛN is 13.59 MeV. The 2+-0+ BΛ difference is almost independent of the present statistical error (±0.15 MeV) on BΛ(15ΛN). Provided the state more abundantly produced is assigned to the 2+ level, their relative positions and production rates agree well with the theoretical predictions. A comparison with results from counter experiments is made. The extraction of the Λ spin-orbit splitting from the 2+-0+ energy difference is discussed using calculations for several different ΛN potentials. (orig.)