Production and decay of polarized hyperon-antihyperon pairs*

Abstract Polarized hyperon-antihyperon pairs shed light on various unresolved puzzles in contemporary physics: How the strong interaction confines quarks into hadrons, how accurately the Standard Model describes microcosmos and even why our universe consists of so much more matter than antimatter. Thanks to their weak, parity violating decays, hyperons reveal their spin properties. This can be exploited e.g. the decomposition of the electromagnetic structure of hyperons, precision tests of flavour symmetry and searches for CP violation. At the BESIII experiment at BEPC-II, Beijing, China, hyperon-antihyperon pairs can be produced in abundance. Recently collected large data samples have triggered the development of new methods that provide unprecedented precision and a plethora of new results have emerged. When applied at future high-intensity facilities like PANDA and STCF, precision physics will be taken to a new level which can contribute to the solution to the aforementioned puzzles.