Interaction of eta mesons with nuclei

Back in the mid-1980s, a new branch of investigation related to the interaction of eta mesons with nuclei came into existence. It started with the theoretical prediction of possible exotic states of eta mesons and nuclei bound by the strong interaction and later developed into an extensive experimental program to search for such unstable states as well as understand the underlying interaction via eta-meson producing reactions. The vast literature of experimental as well as theoretical works that studied various aspects of eta-producing reactions such as the π+n → ηp, pd → 3Heη, p 6Li → 7Be η and γ 3He → η X, to name a few, had but one objective in mind: to understand the eta–nucleon (ηN) and hence the η–nucleus interaction which could explain the production data and confirm the existence of some η-mesic nuclei. In spite of these efforts, there remain uncertainties in the knowledge of the ηN and hence the η–nucleus interaction. Therefore, this review is an attempt to bind together the findings in these works and draw some global and specific conclusions which can be useful for future explorations. The ηN scattering length (which represents the strength of the η–nucleon interaction) using different theoretical models and analyzing the data on η production in pion, photon and proton induced reactions was found to be spread out in a wide range, namely, 0.18 ⩽ ℜe aηN ⩽ 1.03 fm and 0.16 ⩽ ℑm aηN ⩽ 0.49 fm. Theoretical searches of heavy η-mesic nuclei based on η–nucleus optical potentials and lighter ones based on Faddeev type few-body approaches predict the existence of several quasibound and resonant states. Although some hints of η-mesic states such as 3η He and 25η Mg do exist from previous experiments, the promise of clearer signals for the existence of η-mesic nuclei lies in the experiments to be performed at the J-PARC, MAMI and COSY facilities in the near future. This review is aimed at giving an overall status of these efforts. (review article)