Λ and production in K+p interactions at 32 GeV/c

A study of the inclusive and semi-inclusive Λ and Λ production in K+p interactions at 32 GeV/c is presented. The inclusive cross sections for Λ and Λ amount to 0.78 ± 0.05 and 0.42 ± 0.04 mb thus showing a remarkable growth between 16 and 32 GeV/c with a factor of 1.7 for Λ and 2.8 for Λ . Target and beam fragmentation processes are found to be dominant for Λ and Λ production respectively with the following lower limits for the corresponding cross sections: σ(p → K + ʌ) > 0.5 mb and σ(K + → p ʌ ) > 0.3 mb . Although the early scaling conditions are fulfilled for the Λ production in the target fragmentation region, and Λ production in the beam fragmentation region, scaling is not observed between 16 and 32 GeV/c in the x and pT2 Feynman variables. The Λ production is found to be very similar in the K+p inclusive reaction at 32 GeV/c and in the semi-inclusive reaction K − p → Λ K K X at the same energy. The Λ Λ pair production cross section increases significantly in K+p interactions from 16 to 32 GeV/c where it reaches the value σ Λ Λ = 47 ± 11 μ b . The cross sections for Λ or Λ produced in association with an identified proton are also given and discussed.