Differential cross sections of the reaction gamma d to K+ Sigma- (p) have been measured with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab using incident photons with energies between 1.1 and 3.6 GeV. This is the first complete set of strangeness photoproduction data on the neutron covering a broad angular range. At energies close to threshold and up to E_gamma ~ 1.8 GeV, the shape of the angular distribution is suggestive of the presence of s-channel production mechanisms. For E_gamma > 1.8 GeV, a clear forward peak appears and becomes more prominent as the photon energy increases, suggesting contributions from t-channel production mechanisms. These data can be used to constrain future analysis of this reaction.
The reactions gamma p --> K+ Lambda and gamma p --> K+ Sigma0 were measured in the energy range from threshold up to a photon energy of 2.6 GeV. The data were taken with the SAPHIR detector at the electron stretcher facility, ELSA. Results on cross sections and hyperon polarizations are presented as a function of kaon production angle and photon energy. The total cross section for Lambda production rises steeply with energy close to threshold, whereas the Sigma0 cross section rises slowly to a maximum at about E_gamma = 1.45 GeV. Cross sections together with their angular decompositions into Legendre polynomials suggest contributions from resonance production for both reactions. In general, the induced polarization of Lambda has negative values in the kaon forward direction and positive values in the backward direction. The magnitude varies with energy. The polarization of Sigma0 follows a similar angular and energy dependence as that of Lambda, but with opposite sign.
A new high precision measurement of the reaction pp -> pK+Lambda at a beam momentum of 2.95 GeV/c with more than 200,000 analyzed events allows a detailed analysis of differential observables and their inter-dependencies. Correlations of the angular distributions with momenta are examined. The invariant mass distributions are compared for different regions in the Dalitz plots. The cusp structure at the N Sigma threshold is described with the Flatt\'e formalism and its variation in the Dalitz plot is analyzed.
The photoproduction process of neutral kaons on a liquid deuterium target is investigated near the threshold region, Egamma = 0.8-1.1 GeV. K0 events are reconstructed from positive and negative pions, and differential cross sections are derived. Experimental momentum spectra are compared with those calculated in the spectator model using a realistic deuteron wave function. Elementary amplitudes as given by recent isobar models and a simple phenomenological model are used to study the effect of the new data on the angular behavior of the elementary cross section. The data favor a backward-peaked angular distribution of the elementary n(gamma,K0)Lambda process, which provides additional constraints on current models of kaon photoproduction. The present study demonstrates that the n(gamma,K0)Lambda reaction can provide key information on the mechanism of the photoproduction of strangeness.
The inclusive production cross sections of the strange vector mesons K*0, K*0bar, and phi have been measured in interactions of 920 GeV protons with C, Ti, and W targets with the HERA-B detector at the HERA storage ring. Differential cross sections as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum have been measured in the central rapidity region and for transverse momenta up to pT=3.5 GeV/c. The atomic number dependence is parametrised as sigma(pA) = sigma(pN)*A**alpha, where sigma(pN) is the proton-nucleon cross section. Within the phase space accessible, alpha(K*0) = 0.86+/-0.03, alpha(K*0bar) = 0.87+/-0.03, and alpha(phi) = 0.96+/-0.02. The total proton-nucleon cross sections, determined by extrapolating the differential measurements to full phase space, are sigma(pN->K*0) = 5.06+/-0.54 mb, sigma(pN->K*0bar) = 4.02+/-0.45 mb, and sigma(pN->phi) = 1.17+/-0.11 mb. The Cronin effect is observed for the first time for vector mesons containing strange quarks/ compared to the measurements of Cronin et al. for K+- mesons, the measured values of alpha for phi mesons coincide with those of K- mesons for all transverse momenta, while the enhancement for K*0 / K*0bar mesons is smaller.
The double strangeness exchange reaction ( K − , K + ) is investigated with respect to the sub-threshold production of scalar and vector mesons ( f 0 / a 0 / φ ) decaying into K + K − and the two-step processes induced by intermediate mesons and Ξ − hyperons at p k − = 1.66 GeV/ c using a scintillating fiber active target. The differential cross section ( 〈 dσ dΩ L 〉) averaged over the angular interval (2.3° ⩽ θ K + L ⩽ 14.7°) for the sub-threshold f 0 / a 0 / φ meson production with the K + K − decay is 11 ± 6 μ b/sr at 0.6 ⩽ p K 1 < 0.95 GeV/ c . The present result differs significantly from the theoretical calculation which predicts the contribution of the f 0 / a 0 / φ meson production to be predominant in the ( K − , K + ) reaction below p K + = 0.95 GeV/ c . We found a sizable contribution from two-step ( K − , K + processes, characterized by production of two S = −1 hyperons, consistent with the result of the intra-nuclear cascade (INC) model calculation with respect to the meson-induced hyperon (or hyperon resonance) pair production in the momentum region 0.6 ⩽ p K + < 0.95 GeV/ c . The observed enhancement of the cross section for the two-step ΛΛ production beyond the prediction of the INC model at p K + ⋍ 1.1 GeV /c could be due to the Ξ − p → ΛΛ reaction in 12 C.
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