Observation of<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:msup><mml:mi>π</mml:mi><mml:mo>−</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>K</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math>and<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:msup><mml:mi>π</mml:mi><mml:mo>+</mml:mo></mml:msup><mml:msup><mml:mi>K</mml:mi><mml:mo>−</mml:mo></mml:msup></mml:math>Atoms

The observation of hydrogen-like $\\pi K$ atoms, consisting of $\\pi^- K^+$ or $\\pi^+ K^-$ mesons, is presented. The atoms have been produced by 24 GeV/$c$ protons from the CERN PS accelerator, interacting with platinum or nickel foil targets. The breakup (ionisation) of $\\pi K$ atoms in the same targets yields characteristic $\\pi K$ pairs, called ``atomic pairs'', with small relative momenta in the pair centre-of-mass system. The upgraded DIRAC experiment has observed $349\\pm62$ such atomic $\\pi K$ pairs, corresponding to a signal of 5.6 standard deviations.