Observation of a spin 4 neutral meson with 2 GeV mass decaying in $\pi^{0} \pi^{0}$

The invariant mass spectrum of neutral meson states from π−p interactions at 40 GeV/c incident momentum has been investigated in a high statistics experiment performed at the 70 GeV IHEP accelerator. To detect the high energy photons coming from the produced neutral states, a hodoscope spectrometer with a computer on-line was used. A clear structure on the mass spectrum of dipions produced in the reaction π−p→π°π°n is observed at 2 GeV. The decay angular distributions show in this mass region the variation with mass typical of a state with a spin J = 4. The mass of the observed meson is found to be M = (2020±30)MeV and the estimate of the full width is (180±60) MeV.