It is pointed out that pions from weak decay of Λ hypernuclei could be due to production of the H dibaryon, whose mass could be as light as that of two nucleons. Possibility of such a light H particle has been shown recently by lattice QCD calculations. The mesonic-decay rate of Λ hypernuclei to produce the H is calculated to demonstrate experimental feasibility of a search for the H by detecting such pions. The ${\pi }^{+}$ decay, in particular, is shown to be a unique signature of the H production.

• Received 27 March 1989

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.62.2456