Inclusive production ofK+mesons in 2.1-GeV/nucleon nuclear collisions

Abstract

K+ meson production by 2.1-GeV/nucleon Ne, d, and p projectiles on NaF and Pb targets has been measured. The cross sections depend exponentially upon the kaon energy in the nucleonnucleon c.m. frame, with an inverse slope To larger than the values obtained from comparable proton and~spectra. The angular distribution in this frame is approximately isotropic. The 3 dependence of the kaon yield has been determined. Data are compared with theoretical predictions.

Phenomenological analysis ofK+-meson production in proton-nucleus collisions

“…The inconsistency between the PNPI [1] data and the other experiments [2,3,6] might be related to the different beam energies. In fact, since the PNPI measurements were performed at T p <1.0 GeV, thus substantially below the kaon production threshold in free space, twostep mechanisms or many body effects should be more pronounced.…”

“…The t dependence of the invariant cross section for K + -production in pP b collisions at T p =2.1 GeV [2] is shown in the lower spectrum of Fig. 7.…”

“…In particular, there is a strong disagreement between the 1.0 GeV data from ANKE [5] measured under forward angles and the total cross sections from PNPI [1] obtained at the same beam energy. In order to clarify the situation and to allow a comparison with the data on differential cross sections obtained at higher energies [2,3,6] it is necessary to systematically measure kaon production at forward angles and at higher energies. These data would also help to reconstruct the angular dependences of kaon production in pA collisions at the higher energies.…”

“…To draw final conclusions one would like to have data on differential cross sections at beam energies close to 1.0 GeV. The available data [2,3,6] in- • . The solid line shows a fit by a constant value α=0.54±0.02.…”

“…Total K + -production cross sections have been measured at the PNPI synchrocyclotron for targets between Be and Pb and projectile energies T p between 0.8 and 1.0 GeV [1], i.e., at beam energies far below the free nucleon-nucleon threshold. Inclusive differential cross sections have been studied at BEVALAC [2], SATURNE [3] and CELSIUS [4]. Partial momentum spectra have been obtained at different laboratory emission angles in the range 10…”