Associated strangeness production in the reactions γp → K + Λ and γp → K + Σ 0 was measured with the SAPHIR detector at the electron stretcher ring ELSA at Bonn. Data on total and differential cross sections and on hyperon polarizations are presented. The total cross section for Λ production shows a strong threshold enhancement whereas the Σ 0 data have a maximum at about E γ =1.45 GeV. Along with the angular decomposition of the differential cross section into polynomials, this suggests resonance production. However, the angular distributions of both hyperon polarizations vary only slightly with the photon energy. Λ and Σ 0 polarizations show opposite signs and change sign over the angular range.

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.

The experimental setup and detection technique of the COSY-11 installation, an internal experimental facility at the cooler synchrotron and storage ring COSY Jülich, are described. The detection system has been designed for meson production studies with full geometrical acceptance close to threshold. Preliminary results of first measurements are presented, emphasis is put on strangeness production in the reactions pp → ppK + K − and pp → pK + Λ .

Threshold measurements of the associated strangeness production reactions pp --> p K(+) Lambda and pp --> p K(+) Sigma(0) are presented. Although slight differences in the shapes of the excitation functions are observed, the most remarkable feature of the data is that at the same excess energy the total cross section for the Sigma(0) production appears to be about a factor of 28 smaller than the one for the Lambda particle. It is concluded that strong Sigma(0)-p final state interactions, and in particular the Sigma-N --> Lambda-p conversion reaction, are the likely cause of the depletion for the yield in the Sigma signal. This hypothesis is in line with other experimental evidence in the literature.

Hyperon production in the threshold region was studied in the reaction pp→K+Λp using the time-of-flight spectrometer COSY-TOF. Exclusive data, covering the full phase-space, were taken at three different beam momenta pbeam=2.59 , 2.68 and 2.85 GeV/ c (corresponding to excess energies of ɛ=85 , 115 and 171 MeV). Total cross-sections were deduced to be 7.4±0.5 μb , 8.6±0.6 μb and 16.5±0.4 μb , respectively. Differential observables including Dalitz plots were obtained. From the investigation of the Dalitz plot at pbeam=2.85 GeV/c a dominant contribution of the N∗(1650) -resonance to the reaction mechanism was found. In addition the pΛ -final-state interaction turned out to have a significant influence on the Dalitz plot distribution even 171 MeV above threshold.

Evidence is presented for production of Ξ* resonances, decaying into Ξπ, Ξ(1530)π, ΛK¯, and ΣK¯, in K−p interactions at 2.87 Gev/c. The data represent final combined results from a 30-events/μb hydrogen exposure and an 18-events/μb exposure in deuterium designed to study Ξ* production in the mass interval 1.46-2.07 GeV/c2. In addition to Ξ(1820) and Ξ(1940), signals have been observed at masses of 1630 MeV/c2 and 1860 MeV/c2 decaying into Ξ−π+ and YK¯, respectively. Reaction cross sections have been measured for all final states containing two visible signs of strangeness, and for the final states ΛK−K+ and Σ0K−K+.

The total cross section of the reaction pp->ppK+K- has been measured at excess energies Q=10 MeV and 28 MeV with the magnetic spectrometer COSY-11. The new data show a significant enhancement of the total cross section compared to pure phase space expectations or calculations within a one boson exchange model. In addition, we present invariant mass spectra of two particle subsystems. While the K+K- system is rather constant for different invariant masses, there is an enhancement in the pK- system towards lower masses which could at least be partially connected to the influence of the Lambda(1405) resonance.

The reaction $ pp\to pp\bf \omega$ was investigated with the TOF spectrometer, which is an external experiment at the accelerator COSY (Forschungszentrum Julich, Germany). Total as well as differential cross sections were determined at an excess energy of $93 MeV$ ($p_{beam}=2950 MeV/c$). Using the total cross section of $(9.0\pm 0.7 \pm1.1) \mu b$ for the reaction $ pp\to pp\omega$ determined here and existing data for the reaction $pp\to pp\bf \phi$, the ratio $\mathcal{R}_{\phi/\omega}=\sigma_\phi/\sigma_\omega$ turns out to be significantly larger than expected by the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka (OZI) rule. The uncertainty of this ratio is considerably smaller than in previous determinations. The differential distributions show that the $\omega$ production is still dominated by S-wave production at this excess energy, however higher partial waves clearly contribute. A comparison of the measured angular distributions for $\omega$ production to published distributions for $\phi$ production at $83 MeV$ shows that the data are consistent with an identical production mechanism for both vector mesons.

Sigma+ hyperon production was measured at the COSY-11 spectrometer via the p p --> n K+ Sigma+ reaction at excess energies of Q = 13 MeV and Q = 60 MeV. These measurements continue systematic hyperon production studies via the p p --> p K+ Lambda/Sigma0 reactions where a strong decrease of the cross section ratio close-to-threshold was observed. In order to verify models developed for the description of the Lambda and Sigma0 production we have performed the measurement on the Sigma+ hyperon and found unexpectedly that the total cross section is by more than one order of magnitude larger than predicted by all anticipated models. After the reconstruction of the kaon and neutron four momenta, the Sigma+ is identified via the missing mass technique. Details of the method and the measurement will be given and discussed in view of theoretical models.

We report measurements of the exclusive electroproduction of $K^+\Lambda$ and $K^+\Sigma^0$ final states from a proton target using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The separated structure functions $\sigma_T$, $\sigma_L$, $\sigma_{TT}$, and $\sigma_{LT}$ were extracted from the $\Phi$- and $\epsilon$-dependent differential cross sections taken with electron beam energies of 2.567, 4.056, and 4.247 GeV. This analysis represents the first $\sigma_L/\sigma_T$ separation with the CLAS detector, and the first measurement of the kaon electroproduction structure functions away from parallel kinematics. The data span a broad range of momentum transfers from $0.5\leq Q^2\leq 2.8$ GeV$^2$ and invariant energy from $1.6\leq W\leq 2.4$ GeV, while spanning nearly the full center-of-mass angular range of the kaon. The separated structure functions reveal clear differences between the production dynamics for the $\Lambda$ and $\Sigma^0$ hyperons. These results provide an unprecedented data sample with which to constrain current and future models for the associated production of strangeness, which will allow for a better understanding of the underlying resonant and non-resonant contributions to hyperon production.