Strange baryon and in particular multi-strange baryon production is suggested to be a useful probe in the search for quark gluon plasma formation in heavy ion collisions. We have measured the (Ω − + Ω + ) (Ξ − + Ξ + ) production ratio to be 0.8±0.4 at central rapidity and ϱ T > 1.6 GeV/c.
Multi-strange baryon and anti-baryon production is expected to be a useful probe in the search for Quark-Gluon Plasma formation. We present the transverse mass distributions of negative particles, K o s, Λs, Λ s, and Ξ − s produced in sulphurtungsten interactions at 200 GeV/c per nucleon and give the corrected ratios Λ Λ, Ξ − Λ and Ξ − /Λ . We note that our ratio Ξ − / Λ appears large in comparison to that from p p interactions.
Strange and multistrange baryon production is expected to be enhanced in heavy ion interactions if a phase transition from hadronic matter to a Quark-Gluon Plasma takes place. The production yields of Λ s, Λ s, Ξ − s, and Ξ + s relative to the production of negative particles are presented for sulphur-tungsten interactions at 200 GeV/ c per nucleon. These production yields are compared to those produced in proton-tungsten interactions and the enhancements of strange and multistrange baryons and antibaryons are presented.
We report on measurements of the inclusive production rate of Sigma+ and Sigma0 baryons in hadronic Z decays collected with the L3 detector at LEP. The Sigma+ baryons are detected through the decay Sigma+ -> p pi0, while the Sigma0 baryons are detected via the decay mode Sigma0 -> Lambda gamma. The average numbers of Sigma+ and Sigma0 per hadronic Z decay are measured to be: < N_Sigma+ > + < N_Sigma+~ > = 0.114 +/- 0.011 (stat) +/- 0.009 (syst), < N_Sigma0 > + < N_Sigma0~ > = 0.095 +/- 0.015 (stat) +/- 0.013 (syst). These rates are found to be higher than the predictions from Monte Carlo hadronization models and analytical parameterizations of strange baryon production.
Deep--inelastic scattering events with a leading baryon have been detected by the H1 experiment at HERA using a forward proton spectrometer and a forward neutron calorimeter. Semi--inclusive cross sections have been measured in the kinematic region 2 <= Q^2 <= 50 GeV^2, 6.10^-5 <= x <= 6.10^-3 and baryon p_T <= MeV, for events with a final state proton with energy 580 <= E' <= 740 GeV, or a neutron with energy E' >= 160 GeV. The measurements are used to test production models and factorization hypotheses. A Regge model of leading baryon production which consists of pion, pomeron and secondary reggeon exchanges gives an acceptable description of both semi-inclusive cross sections in the region 0.7 <= E'/E_p <= 0.9, where E_p is the proton beam energy. The leading neutron data are used to estimate for the first time the structure function of the pion at small Bjorken--x.
Measurements are presented of $K~0$ meson and $\Lambda$ baryon production in deep-inelastic positron-proton scattering (DIS) in the kinematic range $10 < Q~2 < 70\,$GeV$~2$ and $10~{-4} < x < 10~{-2}$. The measurements, obtained using the H1 detector at the HERA collider, are discussed in the light of possible mechanisms for increased strangeness production at low Bjorken-$x$. Comparisons of the $x_F$ spectra, where $x_F$ is the fractional longitudinal momentum in the hadronic centre-of-mass frame, with results from electron-positron annihilation are made. The $x_F$ spectra and the $K~0$ ``seagull'' plot are compared with previous DIS results. The mean $K~0$ and $\Lambda$ multiplicities are studied as a function of the centre-of-mass energy $W$ and are observed to be consistent with a logarithmic increase with $W$ when compared with previous measurements. A comparison of the levels of strangeness production in diffractive and non-diffractive DIS is made. An upper limit of $0.9\,$nb, at the $95\%$ confidence level, is placed on the cross-section for QCD instanton induced events.