Experimental techniques and performance of Λ-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.