Analysing powers and differential cross sections for p p → π − π + and p p → K − K + have been measured over the full angular range using a polarised target at LEAR at 20 beam momenta from 360 to 1550 MeV/ c . Discrepancies in the normalisation of earlier d σ/ d Ω data at low momenta are clarified. Above 1000 MeV/ c , A 0N results confirm values close to +1 over most of the angular range for both reactions, in excellent agreement with earlier data of lower statistics. Below 1000 MeV/ c , where the analysing power is measured for the first time, large variations of A 0N with energy and angle are present.

The vector meson production, hypercharge exchange reactions K − p → ( φ , ω , ϱ ) Λ and ( φ , ϱ ) Σ 0 are studied at 4.2 GeV/ c incident momentum. The data come from a high statistics bubble chamber experiment with a sensitivity of ∼ 120 events/μb. Total and differential cross sections are presented. The vector meson density matrix elements and hyperon polarization are investigated as functions of momentum transfer. Amplitude analyses are performed for all five reactions. The results are compared with duality and quark model predictions, as well as used to test current ideas in two-body phenomenology.

We present results on vector-meson photoproduction via γp→Vp in the LBL-SLAC 82-in. hydrogen bubble chamber exposed to a linearly polarized photon beam at 2.8, 4.7, and 9.3 GeV. We find ρ0 production to have the characteristics of a diffractive process, i.e., a cross section decreasing slowly with energy and a differential cross section with slope of ∼ 6.5 GeV−2. Within errors the ρ0 production amplitudes are entirely due to natural-parity exchange. s-channel helicity is conserved to a high degree in the γ→ρ0 transition. We find evidence for small helicity-flip amplitudes for ππ pairs in the ρ0 region. Photoproduction of ω mesons is separated into its natural- (σN) and unnatural- (σU) parity-exchange contributions. The Eγ and t dependence and the spin density matrix of the unnatural-parity-exchange contribution are consistent with a one-pion-exchange process. The natural-parity-exchange part has characteristics similar to ρ0 production. At 9.3 GeV the ratio of σ(ρ0) to σN(ω) is ∼ 7. The slope of the φ differential cross section is ∼ 4.5 GeV−2, smaller than that of ρ0 and ω production. Natural-parity exchange is the main contributor to φ production. No evidence for higher-mass vector mesons is found in ππ, πππ, or KK¯ final states. The s and t dependences of Compton scattering as calculated from ρ, ω, and φ photoproduction using vector-meson dominance agree with experiment, but the predicted Compton cross section is too small by a factor of 2.

Results from a high-statistics experiment involving an exposure of the SLAC 82-in. hydrogen bubble chamber to a beam of 8-GeV/c π− yielding a final state of π−π+π−p are presented. Copious production of ρ, Δ++, and f is found. Considerable quasi-two-body production in which one particle decays to one of the above resonances is also observed. Some double-resonance production involving baryon and meson resonances is also seen. The production properties of ρ, Δ++, and f mesons are well described by a double-Regge model.

The exclusive omega electroproduction off the proton was studied in a large kinematical domain above the nucleon resonance region and for the highest possible photon virtuality (Q2) with the 5.75 GeV beam at CEBAF and the CLAS spectrometer. Cross sections were measured up to large values of the four-momentum transfer (-t < 2.7 GeV2) to the proton. The contributions of the interference terms sigma_TT and sigma_TL to the cross sections, as well as an analysis of the omega spin density matrix, indicate that helicity is not conserved in this process. The t-channel pi0 exchange, or more generally the exchange of the associated Regge trajectory, seems to dominate the reaction gamma* p -> omega p, even for Q2 as large as 5 GeV2. Contributions of handbag diagrams, related to Generalized Parton Distributions in the nucleon, are therefore difficult to extract for this process. Remarkably, the high-t behaviour of the cross sections is nearly Q2-independent, which may be interpreted as a coupling of the photon to a point-like object in this kinematical limit.

The reactionsπ−p→K0(890) Λ,K0(890)Σ0 andK0(890)Σ0 are studied at an incident momentum of 3.95 GeV/c using data from a high statistics bubble chamber experiment corresponding to ∼90 events/μb. The differential cross sections, density matrix elements of the vector meson and hyperon polarizations are presented. A transversity amplitude analysis is performed for each of the reactions. The results are compared with those obtained for the SU(3) related processesK−p→ϕΔ, ϕΣ0, ϕΣ0(1385) andϱ−Σ+(1385) and with predictions of the additive quark model and SU(6) sum rules.

Final results for 3678 six-prong π+p events at 8 GeV/c are presented. Single-particle distributions are compared with the predictions of the Chan-Loskiewicz-Allison model and the phenomenological model of the F(t) function. Differences between the transverse momenta of the π+ and π− and between the transverse momenta of secondaries emitted forward and backward in the c.m. system are observed. Cross sections for production of the ρ0, ρ+, ρ−, η, ω0, X0, and D0 mesons and the N33*++ and N33*− isobars are given, together with upper limits for some other resonances. The D0 meson is observed in the seven-body channel in the ηπ+π− system, with some evidence for the cascade decay D0→δ±π∓→ηπ+π−. The branching ratio (f0→2π+2π−)(f0→2π) is determined to be (2.2−2.2+4.5)%. Upper limits for the decay of A mesons into X0π systems are quoted. The cross section for the two-body reaction π+p→N33*++X0 is determined to be 30 ± 13 μb, from which the η0−X0 mixing angle is derived. Associated production of N33*++ and ρ0 in the six-body channel and of N33*++, ρ0, and ω0 in the seven-body channel is studied, and the cross sections for reactions involving simultaneous production of these resonances are estimated. The Goldhaber-Goldhaber-Lee-Pais effect is studied and shown to be strong in the six-body channel, especially for selected events with low energy of the pion system.

Absolute inclusive cross sections for\(\bar pp\) interactions at 7.3 GeV/c are given. The data cover prong cross sections,V0, γ production and inclusive charged particle (p/π) production. Separation has been made into annihilation and non-annihilation components. Inclusive π+, π− production in the processes of\(\bar pp\) annihilation and non-annihilation are compared with simple quark models.

Invariant single-particle cross sections for pion and proton production in π ± p interactions at 8 and 16 GeV/ c are presented in terms of integrated distributions as functions of x , reduced rapidity ζ and p ⊥ 2 , and also in terms of double differential cross sections E d 2 σ /(d x d p ⊥ 2 ) and d ζ d p ⊥ 2 ). A comparison of π ± and π − induced reactions is made and the energy dependence is discussed. It is shown that the single-particle structure function cannot be factorized in its dependece on transverse and longitudinal momentum. For the beam-unlike pion, there is an indication for factorizability in terms of rapidity and transverse momentum in a small central region.

We report measurements of the exclusive electroproduction of $K^+\Lambda$ and $K^+\Sigma^0$ final states from a proton target using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The separated structure functions $\sigma_T$, $\sigma_L$, $\sigma_{TT}$, and $\sigma_{LT}$ were extracted from the $\Phi$- and $\epsilon$-dependent differential cross sections taken with electron beam energies of 2.567, 4.056, and 4.247 GeV. This analysis represents the first $\sigma_L/\sigma_T$ separation with the CLAS detector, and the first measurement of the kaon electroproduction structure functions away from parallel kinematics. The data span a broad range of momentum transfers from $0.5\leq Q^2\leq 2.8$ GeV$^2$ and invariant energy from $1.6\leq W\leq 2.4$ GeV, while spanning nearly the full center-of-mass angular range of the kaon. The separated structure functions reveal clear differences between the production dynamics for the $\Lambda$ and $\Sigma^0$ hyperons. These results provide an unprecedented data sample with which to constrain current and future models for the associated production of strangeness, which will allow for a better understanding of the underlying resonant and non-resonant contributions to hyperon production.