A high-statistics study of the pi(0) pi(0)-system produced in the pi(-
) p --> pi(0) pi(0)n reaction at 38 CeV/c has been carried out at the
IHEP accelerator using the GAMS-2000 multiphoton spectrometer, A parti
al-wave analysis which includes S, D-0, D-- and D-+ waves has been per
formed in the \t\-range up to 1 (GeV/c)(2). The S/f(0) (980) resonanc
e is seen as a dip in the S-wave amplitude at small \t\. A distinct pe
ak with a mass of 997 +/- 5 MeV and a width of 48 +/- 10 MeV is observ
ed in the S-wave at \t\ > 0.3 (GeV/c)(2). The production cross section
s are measured.