Measurement of the $pi K$ atom lifetime and the $pi K$ scattering length

After having announced the statistically significant observation (5.6~$sigma$) of the new exotic $pi K$ atom, the DIRAC experiment at the CERN proton synchrotron presents the measurement of the corresponding atom lifetime, based on the full $pi K$ data sample: $tau = (5.5^{+5.0}_{-2.8}) cdot 10^{-15}s$. By means of a precise relation ($<1%$) between atom lifetime and scattering length, the following value for the S-wave isospin-odd $pi K$ scattering length $a_0^{-}~=~frac{1}{3}(a_{1/2}-a_{3/2})$ has been derived: $left|a_0^-right| = (0.072^{+0.031}_{-0.020}) M_{pi}^{-1}$.