DO NARROW SIGMA-HYPERNUCLEAR STATES EXIST

The Sigma hypernuclear problem has been the subject of intense experim ental and theoretical debate for more than 15 years. Despite these eff orts, the Sigma-nucleus interaction is not well understood. Experiment al data have been taken on different targets at different momenta and at different conditions. These data suffer from poor resolution and in sufficient statistics. Contradictions among the different sets of data often resulted more in clouding the issues than clarifying them. This paper aims at clearing up this long-standing problem. Hypernuclear ma ss spectra for in-flight (K-,pi(+/-)) reactions from H-1, H-2, Li-6 an d Be-9 have been measured. Preliminary results based on analysis of th e (K-,pi(+/-)) spectra from Be-9 are discussed.