Evidence for a Kaon-Bound State<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:msup><mml:mi>K</mml:mi><mml:mo>−</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:mi>p</mml:mi><mml:mi>p</mml:mi></mml:math>Produced in<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:msup><mml:mi>K</mml:mi><mml:mo>−</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math>Absorption Reactions at Rest

We have searched for a deeply bound kaonic state by using the FINUDA spectrometer installed at the e(+)e(-) collider DAPhiNE. Almost monochromatic K(-)'s produced through the decay of phi(1020) mesons are used to observe K(-) absorption reactions stopped on very thin nuclear targets. Taking this unique advantage, we have succeeded to detect a kaon-bound state K(-)pp through its two-body decay into a Lambda hyperon and a proton. The binding energy and the decay width are determined from the invariant-mass distribution as 115(+6)(-5)(stat)(+3)(-4)(syst) MeV and 67(+14)(-11)(stat)(+2)(-3)(syst) MeV, respectively.