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The interpretation of the OZI-rule violation in the reaction p p → Φπ 0 encounters difficulties since one cannot exclude the possibility that the violation is a consequence of the rescattering in the final state. For this reason it is important to seek reactions in which the OZI-rule violation cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms. We compute the rescattering contribution in the reaction p p → f′ 2 π 0 and show that this contribution is negligible. Therefore any substantial OZI-rule violation in the process p p → f′ 2 π 0 would undoubtedly mean that some unusual physics plays an important role in this process.

We explicitly calculate in the on-shell approximation the contribution of the triangle mechanism with K ∗ and K mesons in the intermediate states to the branching ratios of the reactions p n → φπ − , p p → φπ 0 and p p → φγ , the experimental values of which strongly disagree with the OZI-rule predictions. The calculated branching ratios for the first two reactions are in qualitative agreement with experimental data while even the upper bound for the branching ratio of the latter reaction is much less than the corresponding experimental value. We also discuss the contribution of the above mechanism to the reactions p p → φη, p p → φρ 0 and p p → φω .

We consider the problem whether the rescattering mechanism with {ital K}{sup *}{ital {bar K}} and {ital {bar K}}{sup *}{ital K} intermediate states, which qualitatively explains the large Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka rule violation in the reaction {ital {bar p}p}{r_arrow}{phi}{pi}{sup 0} when the {ital {bar p}p} system annihilates from the {ital S} state of the hydrogenlike {ital {bar p}p} atom, is compatible with the fact that this reaction is not seen in the annihilation from the {ital P} state.

A review of the problem of whether the violation of the OZI rule in nucleon–antinucleon annihilation at rest can be explained in the framework of conventional mechanisms is given in detail. While the vector-dominance model and the rescattering model qualitatively describe the OZI-rule violation in the reactions pp→φγ and pp→φπ 0 for the annihilation from the S state of the protonium atom, the latter model cannot explain the fact that the annihilation into φπ 0 from the P state is not seen and the OZI rule in the reaction pp→f 2 ′ π 0 is not satisfied. We also discuss what information about the OZI-rule violation can be extracted from the reaction pp→φπ + π − and decays of the J/Ψ meson.

We reply to the Comment by Bingsong Zou. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}