First results from the FINUDA Experiment at DAΦNE

In spring 2003 the FINUDA detector was installed at the ϕ factory DAΦNEin the Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati of INFN (Italy). In October 2003 the commissioning of the apparatus was accomplished and the first data taking started with a set of nuclear targets ^6Li, ^7Li, $¹²C, ²⁷Al, ⁵¹V. The data collection will continue until a total integrated luminosity of 250 pb⁻¹ is recorded. Light and medium A hypernuclei will be abundantly produced by the strangeness exchange reaction induced by the stopped K^- coming from the decay of ϕ(1020) mesons. The aim of the experiment is to simultaneously measure the excitation energy spectra of the produced hypernuclei, with a resolution better than 1 MeV, the lifetime of the Γ embedded in the different hypernuclei and the partial widths Γ_π, Γ_np and Γ_nn for mesonic and non mesonic hypernuclear decays. Information on neutron-rich hypernuclei and rare hypernuclear two-body decays might be available too, with the statistics that will be collected at the end of the run. In the present paper, first results concerning in-beam detector calibration, spectrometer performances and very preliminary hypernuclear formation and decay spectra will be presented.