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.
The production of charmed particles by Sigma- of 340 Gev/c momentum was studied in the hyperon beam experiment WA89 at the CERN-SPS, using the Omega-spectrometer. In two data-taking periods in 1993 and 1994 an integrated luminosity of 1600 microb^-1 on copper and carbon targets was recorded. From the reconstruction of 930 +- 90 charm particle decays in 10 decay channels production cross sections for D, antiD, Ds and Lambdac were determined in the region xF>0. Assuming an A^1 dependence of the cross section on the nucleon number, we calculate a total ccbar production cross section of sigma(x_F > 0) = 5.3+- 0.4(stat)+-1.0(syst)+1.0(Xi_c) microb per nucleon. The last term is an upper limit on the unknown contribution from charmed-strange baryon production.