The J-PET detector—a tool for precision studies of ortho-positronium decays

• DOI: 10.1016/j.nima.2021.165452
• Publication Date: 2021-05-24T08:07:56Z
• Authors: K. Dulski; S.D. Bass; J. Chhokar; N. Chug; C. Curceanu; E. Czerwiński; M. Dagdar; J. Gajewski; A. Gajos; M. Gorgol; R. Del Grande; B.C. Hiesmayr; B. Jasińska; K. Kacprzak; Ł. Kapłon; H. Karimi; D. Kisielewska; K. Klimaszewski; P. Kopka; G. Korcyl; P. Kowalski; T. Kozik; N. Krawczyk; W. Krzemień; E. Kubicz; P. Małczak; M. Mohammed; Sz. Niedźwiecki; M. Pałka; M. Pawlik-Niedźwi...; M. Pędziwiatr; L. Raczyński; J. Raj; A. Ruciński; S. Sharma; Shivani; R.Y. Shopa; M. Silarski; M. Skurzok; E.Ł. Stępień; F. Tayefi; W. Wiślicki; B. Zgardzińska; P. Moskal
• Keywords: Physics - Instrumentation and Detectors; 103014 Kernphysik; FEASIBILITY; FOS: Physical sciences; LIFETIME; Positronium; Positron emission tomograph; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Plastic scintillators; RECONSTRUCTION; Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex); ANNIHILATION; DETECTOR; PROGRESS; Nuclear Experiment; Instrumentation and Detectors (physics.ins-det); INVARIANCE; TIME RESOLUTION; ORTHOPOSITRONIUM; 103034 Particle physics; SYMMETRIES; 103014 Nuclear physics; 103034 Teilchenphysik

12 pages, 7 figures<br/>The J-PET tomograph is constructed from plastic scintillator strips arranged axially in concentric cylindrical layers. It enables investigations of positronium decays by measurement of the time, position, polarization and energy deposited by photons in the scintillators, in contrast to studies conducted so far with crystal and semiconductor based detection systems where the key selection of events is based on the measurement of the photons energies. In this article we show that the J-PET tomograph system is capable of exclusive measurements of the decays of ortho-positronium atoms. We present the first positronium production results, its lifetime distribution measurements and discuss estimation of the influence of various background sources. The tomograph s performance demonstrated here makes it suitable for precision studies of positronium decays including entanglement of the final state photons, positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy plus molecular imaging diagnostics.<br/>