WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE ABC EFFECT?

The ABC effect - an intriguing low-mass enhancement in the pi pi invariant mass spectrum - is known from inclusive measurements of two-pion production in nuclear fusion reactions. Exclusive measurements have been carried out at CELSIUS/WASA and WASA-at-COSY for the fusion reactions leading to d, (3)He and (4)He. They all reveal this effect to be of isoscalar nature and associated with a narrow Lorentzian-shaped structure in the total cross section. The latter could point to the formation of an isoscalar resonance, which couples to the pn channel as well as to an intermediate Delta Delta state.