Two--kaon production in proton--deuteron collisions has been studied at three energies close to threshold using a calibrated magnetic spectrograph to measure the final $^3$He and a vertex detector to measure the $K^+K^-$ pair. Differential and total cross sections are presented for the production of $\phi$--mesons, decaying through $\phi\to K^+K^-$, as well as for prompt $K^+K^-$ production. The prompt production seems to follow phase space in both its differential distributions and in its energy dependence. The amplitude for the $pd\to ^3${He}$ \phi$ reaction varies little for excess energies below 22 MeV and the value is consistent with that obtained from a threshold measurement. The angular distribution of the $K^+K^-$ decay pair shows that near threshold the $\phi$--mesons are dominantly produced with polarization $m=0$ along the initial proton direction. No conclusive evidence for $f_0(980)$ production is found in the data.
Total cross section for K+ K- production.
Total cross section for PHI production.
Differential cross section as a function of the excitation energy of the K+ K- pair.
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MEAN CHARGED MULTIPLICITY.
MEAN CHARGED MULTIPLICITY AFTER SUBTRACTING SECONDARIES FROM KS AND LAMBDA DECAY, PLUS LEPTONS FROM HEAVY QUARK WEAK DECAYS ARE FROM DALITZ DECAYS. I.E. NUMBER OF CHARGED HADRONS HAVING LIFETIME > 10**-9 SEC.
INVERSE RELATIVE DISPERSION.
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