OBSERVATION OF THE ABC EFFECT IN THE FIRST EXCLUSIVE MEASUREMENTS OF pn → dπ0π0

The reaction pn → dπ0π0 constitutes the most fundamental system for the study of the ABC effect - a puzzling threshold enhancement in the ππ invariant mass spectrum of the ππ system in double-pionic fusion to nuclear bound states. The first exclusive measurements of this reaction have now been carried out at CELSIUS-WASA. They exhibit a striking low-mass enhancement in the ππ invariant mass spectrum, prove it to be a σ-channel phenomenon and falsify conventional theoretical models, which predict an associated high-mass enhancement not present in the new exclusive data. In the kinematically complete data sample we observe a ΔΔ excitation, where the interaction between the two Δ obviously plays a crucial role for the generation of the ππ low-mass enhancement.