Experimental techniques and performance of $Lambda$-hypernuclear spectroscopy with the $(e,e^{prime}K^{+})$ reaction

The missing-mass spectroscopy of $Lambda$ hypernuclei via the $(e,e^{prime}K^{+})$ reaction has been developed through experiments at JLab Halls A and C in the last two decades. For the latest experiment, E05-115 in Hall C, we developed a new spectrometer system consisting of the HKS and HES; resulting in the best energy resolution ($E_{Lambda} simeq0.5$-MeV FWHM) and $B_{Lambda}$ accuracy ($B_{Lambda}leq0.2$ MeV) in $Lambda$-hypernuclear reaction spectroscopy. This paper describes the characteristics of the $(e,e^{prime}K^{+})$ reaction compared to other reactions and experimental methods. In addition, the experimental apparatus, some of the important analyses such as the semi-automated calibration of absolute energy scale, and the performance achieved in E05-115 are presented.