K− over K+ multiplicity ratio for kaons produced in DIS with a large fraction of the virtual-photon energy

The K$^{-}$ over K$^{+}$ multiplicity ratio is measured in deep-inelastic scattering, for the first time for kaons carrying a large fraction $z$ of the virtual-photon energy. The data were obtained by the COMPASS collaboration using a 160 GeV muon beam and an isoscalar $^6$LiD target. The regime of deep-inelastic scattering is ensured by requiring $Q^2>1$ (GeV/$c)^2$ for the photon virtuality and $W>5$ GeV/$c^2$ for the invariant mass of the produced hadronic system. Kaons are identified in the momentum range from 12 GeV/$c$ to 40 GeV/$c$, thereby restricting the range in Bjorken-$x$ to $0.010.75$. For very large values of $z$, $i.e.$ $z>0.8$, we observe the kaon multiplicity ratio to fall below the lower limits expected from calculations based on leading and next-to-leading order perturbative quantum chromodynamics. Also, the kaon multiplicity ratio shows a strong dependence on the missing mass of the single-kaon production process. This suggests that within the perturbative quantum chromodynamics formalism an additional correction may be required, which takes into account the phase space available for hadronisation.
Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures