The 1964 report exposed Brookhaven's 80-inch hydrogen bubble chamber to a mass-separated negative-kaon beam. A photographed decay chain, track momenta and bubble density supported the particle identification. Two converted photons helped reconstruct a neutral pion. Alternative assignments were tested kinematically. The authors reported an Omega baryon candidate with , and mass , reserving a detailed systematic-error discussion for further events.[ref]
This is an inference from several linked observations. A charged particle can leave a visible bubble-chamber track, while a neutral segment must be reconstructed from its production and decay products. Agreement between possible decay channels, electric charge, momentum conservation and the reconstructed mass is stronger evidence than a suggestive track shape alone. The event tests a predicted hadron pattern; it does not photograph the three strange quarks individually.
For example, an independently constructed two-body kinematic check uses
In a parent rest frame with equal and opposite daughter momenta, the momentum sum vanishes, giving . In units , stipulated daughter masses , and momentum magnitude give , and . A common Lorentz boost changes the daughter energies and momenta while preserving this reconstructed invariant mass. These chosen units and numbers are an illustration, not a reanalysis of the 1964 event.