Search forHdibaryon-nucleus bound states in relativistic Au+Pt collisions

Recent estimates suggest that the production of strange exotic objects, such as the hypothetical H dibaryon (H), is surprisingly large in Au collisions at AGS energies. Two possible bound states of the H, namely H${\mathrm{-}}^3$He and H-d, would be well separated in mass from known nuclear isotopes and therefore could be uniquely identified by experiment. We report the null result of a first search for these objects in Au+Pt collisions at the AGS, and limit their production cross sections for stable systems to ∼${10}^{\mathrm{-}5}$ mb/(GeV${)}^2$, near y=0.6 and ${\mathit{p}}_{\mathit{t}}$/Z=0.18 GeV/c.