Measurement of the imaginary part of the I=1 N-barN S-wave scattering length.

The survival time spectrum of slow antineutrons produced in a liquid-hydrogen target has been measured. From these data the imaginary part of the I = 1 spin-averaged S-wave antineutron proton scattering length has been deduced to be Ima/sub 1/ = -0.83 +- 0.07 fm. The result lies within the range of values calculated from current potential models. In addition, by combining a/sub 1/ with the antiproton-proton scattering length deduced from antiprotonic atoms, the imaginary part of the I = 0 spin-averaged N-barN scattering length was calculated to be Ima/sub 0/ = -1.07 +- 0.16 fm.