The π⁰ decay proceeds primarily through the chiral anamoly and is arguably the most definitive test of confinement scale QCD. This decay width can be measured through the π⁰ photoproduction cross section via the Primakoff effect γγ->π⁰. A new, high precision measurement (~1.5%) of the width Γ(π⁰->γγ) will be performed at Jefferson Lab using a new hybrid electromagnetic calorimeter (HYCAL) currently under construction. The calorimeter will contain approximately 1700 channels comprised of both lead-tungstate(PbWO4) crystals and lead-glass Cherenkov detectors. Monitoring of the photon beam luminosity at the 1% level is required to achieve the overall precision goals. The high precision required for this experiment has posed significant technical challenges in several areas. A description of the experiment will be given with particular emphasis on the design of the triggering and DAQ systems


Talk Slides: (slides)