In this letter results are presented on the reactions K − p → K 0 n and K − p → K − p from a high statistics CERN 2-metre hydrogen bubble chamber exposure at 4.15 GeV/ c . The behaviour of the differential cross section as a function of four-momentum transfer shows remarkable similarities between the two reactions studied. From a comparison of our data with K + p elastic scattering at 4.27 GeV/ c we draw some conclusions concerning the magnitude of the contributing amplitudes.

The reactions π − p → p π − and π − p → p ϱ − ( ϱ − → π − π 0 ) at 10 GeV/ c with the proton in the forward direction in the c.m.s. are discussed on the basis of 953 elastic scattering events and 2240 events of the reaction π − p → p π − π 0 . The total backward cross sections are 0.52±0.10 and 1.52±0.28 μ b, respectively. In both cases the production mechanism is compatible with the dominance of the baryonic Δ δ Regge trajectory exchange. The ϱ − decay angular distributions are studied in the u -channel helicity frame and the spin density matrix elements are presented as functions of u .

The single-pion production reactions $pp\to d\pi^+$, $pp\to np\pi^+$ and $pp\to pp\pi^0$ were measured at a beam momentum of 0.95 GeV/c ($T_p \approx$ 400 MeV) using the short version of the COSY-TOF spectrometer. The implementation of a central calorimeter provided particle identification, energy determination and neutron detection in addition to time-of-flight and angle measurements. Thus all pion production channels were recorded with 1-4 overconstraints. The total and differential cross sections obtained are compared to previous data and theoretical calculations. Main emphasis is put on the discussion of the $pp\pi^0$ channel, where we obtain angular distributions different from previous experimental results, however, partly in good agreement with recent phenomenological and theoretical predictions. In particular we observe very large anisotropies for the $\pi^0$ angular distributions in the kinematical region of small relative proton momenta revealing there a dominance of proton spinflip transitions associated with $\pi^0$ $s$- and $d$-partial waves and emphasizing the important role of $\pi^0$ d-waves.

The exclusive process π−p→ρ−p has been measured at 90° c.m. with an incident pion momentum of 9.9 GeV/c. We present data on the angular dependence of the decay ρ−→π−π0. We observe a strong azimuthal dependence in the decay in the c.m. helicity frame of the ρ. Such an azimuthal dependence is not compatible with SU(6) valence-quark perturbation calculations.

We present results of an analysis of two-prong events for elastic scattering and single-pion production in K−p interactions at 5.5 GeVc. The resonance parameters for the charged and neutral K*(890) and K*(1420) are determined and the observed production and decay properties of the charged and neutral K*(890) are compared with the theoretical predictions of an absorptive one-particle-exchange model and a Regge model. The K*(1420) differential cross section and density-matrix elements are presented and the question of whether more than one resonance exists in this mass range is considered. A search for resonance effects at Kπ mass beyond 1500 MeV is made. In particular, the recently reported state at 1800 MeV is discussed. A B5-model analysis of the reaction K−p→K¯0π−p is also presented.

The polarization parameter in proton-proton scattering has been measured at incident proton kinetic energies of 1.7, 2.85, 3.5, 4.0, 5.05, and 6.15 BeV and for four-momentum transfer squared between 0.1 and 1.0 (BeV/c)2. The experiment was done with an unpolarized proton beam from the Bevatron striking a polarized proton target. Both final-state protons were detected in coincidence and the asymmetry in counting rate for target protons polarized parallel and antiparallel to the scattering normal was measured. The maximum polarization was observed to decrease from 0.4 at 1.7 BeV to 0.2 at 6.1 BeV. The maximum of the polarization at all energies studied occurs at a four-momentum transfer squared of 0.3 to 0.4 (BeV/c)2.

K + p elastic scattering is studied at incident K + beam momenta of 2.53, 2.76 and 3.20 GeV/ c . From the analysis of about 10 000 elastic events at each energy, we present data on the forward and backward elastic scattering peaks. No structure is observed in the forward peak for − t ⩽ 2 (GeV/ c ) 2 . In addition, the statistics available from this exposure permit a measurement of the differential cross sections near 90° in the center of mass system. These results exhibit a strong energy dependence and are compared to similar results at other energies.

Results on the elastic K − π − scattering have been obtained from a study of the K − π − system in 15 000 events of the type K − p→K − π − p π + at a K − beam momentum of 4.25 GeV/ c . The on-mass-shell values of the spherical harmonic moments of the K − π − scattering angular distribution and the K − π − elastic cross section have been obtained by extrapolation to the pion pole. From these values we determined the s- and p-wave phase shifts δ 0 3 and δ 1 3 as a function of the effective mass of the K − π − system between threshold and 1.25 GeV/ c 2 . The value of | δ 0 3 | is smaller than 17° for all mass values and the existence of a p-wave cannot be neglected. At m K − π − = 1.18 GeV/ c 2 there are two solutions for the phase shifts. On the average, the cross section of the K − π − elastic scattering over the region of the effective mass considered amounts to approximately 2.5 mb.

From an experiment done with the CERN Omega spectrometer, triggered by a fast forward proton device, we present results on the differential cross section d σ d u for π − p backward elastic scattering. The d σ d u distribution agrees with an A e Bu law. The compilation of existing results shows a discrepancy between results but the ( d σ d u ) u=0 data fit perfectly an s 2 α 0 −2 dependence, as predicted by a single Δδ Regge trajectory exchange. A search for the reaction π − p → d p , with a fast forward deuteron, which can be produced by a double-baryon exchange mechanism, gives cross-section upper limits of ∼1% of the backward elastic cross section.

Data on 6.2 GeV/ c π − p and K − p elastic scattering cross sections are presented in the range 0.3 < − t < 10.7 (GeV/ c ) 2 .