We have used the Fermilab 30-in. bubble-chamber-hybrid spectrometer to study neutral-strange-particle production in the interactions of 200-GeV/c protons and π+ and K+ mesons with nuclei of gold, silver, and magnesium. Average multiplicities and inclusive cross sections for K0 and Λ are measured, and a power law is found to give a good description of their A dependence. The exponent characterizing the A dependence is consistent with being the same for K0 and Λ production, and also the same for proton and π+ beams. Average K0 and Λ multiplicities, as well as their ratio, have been measured as functions of the numbers of projectile collisions νp and secondary collisions νs in the nucleus, and indicate that rescattering contributes significantly to enhancement of Λ production but not to K0 production. The properties of events with multiple K0's or Λ's also corroborate this conclusion. K0 rapidities are in the central region and decrease gently with increasing νp, while Λ rapidities are in the target-fragmentation region and are independent of νp. K0 and Λ multiplicities increase with the rapidity loss of the projectile, but their rapidities do not.

The hadronic production of charmed states was studied in a two-arm spectrometer using a 205-GeV/c negative-pion beam incident upon a beryllium target. One arm, filled with dense absorber, triggered the detectors upon the passage of a muon with a moderate transverse momentum and a total momentum of at least 4 GeV/c. The other arm was an open-geometry magnetic spectrometer which had both neutral- and charged-particle identification capabilities. The apparatus, the data, and an invariant-mass-plot search for evidence of charmed-meson production through several charged-particle decay modes are described. The Kπ, Kππ, and Kπππ mass plots fail to reveal significant D-meson signals. Based upon the Kπ mass plots, the 95%-confidence upper limit on the DD¯ production cross section is found to be less than 51 μb per nucleon for the production models tested. A search for evidence of charged-D* production yields 30±16 combinations above background in association with the expected trigger muon charge. Interpreted as a D* signal, this excess corresponds to a model-dependent inclusive DD¯ production cross section of 34±18−9+14 μb per nucleon. Model-dependent upper limits on the ratio of the F to D cross sections are also presented.

Spectra of identified charged hadrons are measured in pp collisions at the LHC for sqrt(s) = 0.9, 2.76, and 7 TeV. Charged pions, kaons, and protons in the transverse-momentum range pt approximately 0.1-1.7 GeV and for rapidities abs(y) < 1 are identified via their energy loss in the CMS silicon tracker. The average pt increases rapidly with the mass of the hadron and the event charged-particle multiplicity, independently of the center-of-mass energy. The fully corrected pt spectra and integrated yields are compared to various tunes of the PYTHIA6 and PYTHIA8 event generators.

The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06 +/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.

Spectra of identified charged hadrons are measured in pPb collisions with the CMS detector at the LHC at sqrt(sNN) = 5.02 TeV. Charged pions, kaons, and protons in the transverse-momentum range pt approximately 0.1-1.7 GeV and laboratory rapidity abs(y) < 1 are identified via their energy loss in the silicon tracker. The average pt increases with particle mass and the charged multiplicity of the event. The increase of the average pt with charged multiplicity is greater for heavier hadrons. Comparisons to Monte Carlo event generators reveal that EPOS LHC, which incorporates additional hydrodynamic evolution of the created system, is able to reproduce most of the data features, unlike HIJING and AMPT. The pt spectra and integrated yields are also compared to those measured in pp and PbPb collisions at various energies. The average transverse momentum and particle ratio measurements indicate that particle production at LHC energies is strongly correlated with event particle multiplicity.

The angular distributions and the differential branching fraction of the decay B0 to K*0(892) mu mu are studied using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.5 inverse femtobarns collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV. From 1430 signal decays, the forward-backward asymmetry of the muons, the K*0(892) longitudinal polarization fraction, and the differential branching fraction are determined as a function of the dimuon invariant mass squared. The measurements are among the most precise to date and are in good agreement with standard model predictions.

Surprisingly large polarizations in hyperon production by unpolarized protons have been known for a long time. The spin dynamics of the production process can be further investigated with polarized beams. Recently, a negative asymmetry AN was found in inclusive Λ0 production with a 200GeV/c transversely polarized proton beam. The depolarization DNN in p↑+p→Λ0+X has been measured with the same beam over a wide xF range and at moderate pT. DNN reaches positive values of about 30% at high xF and pT∼1.0GeV/c. This result shows a sizable spin transfer from the incident polarized proton to the outgoing Λ0.

The considerable polarization of hyperons produced at high xF has been known for a long time and has been interpreted with various theoretical models in terms of the constituents' spin. Recently, the analyzing power in inclusive Λ0 hyperon production has also been measured using the 200GeV/c Fermilab polarized proton beam. The covered kinematic range is 0.2≤xF≤1.0 and 0.1≤pT≤1.5GeV/c. The data indicate a negative asymmetry at large xF and moderate pT. These results can further test the current ideas on the underlying mechanisms for hyperon polarization.

The production of KS, Λ, Λ¯, and γ in π−p collisions at 147 GeV/c is analyzed. Cross sections, rapidity, Feynman-x, and pT2 distributions are presented and compared to charged-particle production. The energy dependence of multiplicities in π−p and pp collisions is shown. A new scaling form for the correlation of neutral- and charged-particle multiplicities is presented for compilations of πp and pp data.

The experimentally determined average charged-particle multiplicities, 〈nX〉, of the systems, X, produced in the following reactions for 147 GeV/c incident pion momentum are presented as functions of the square of the invariant mass of X, MX2, and of |t|:π−p→πfast−X, π−p→pX, π−p→Δ++X, π−p→(π−π+)ρ0X, and π−p→Λ0X. Details of the analysis are discussed. These data can be fit by the expression 〈nX〉=A+B ln MX2+C|t| and the coefficients obtained for B are equal within their uncertainties. C is significantly different from zero only for π−p→πfast−X. These results and 〈nX〉 data from other inclusive and total-inelastic-reaction studies are discussed in terms of a simple model which assumes contributions to 〈nX〉 from the target-fragmentation, the central, and the beam-fragmentation regions in the case of total-inelastic reactions. For inclusive reactions, either the beam or target fragmentation is replaced by an exchange-particle-fragmentation contribution. The s, t, and MX2 dependence of the parameters of the model are deduced from triple-Regge considerations. The data are found to be consistent with the model and values are presented for the parameters.