Multiple pion production in K+-proton collisions at 3.5 GeV/c

An analysis is made of K⁺ proton interactions in which three or four pions are produced. The experiment was conducted in the Brookhaven 80-inch bubble chamber using an incident beam of 3.5 GeV/c K⁺ mesons. Events of the type K⁺ + p → K^o + p + (3 or 4π)⁺ were selected from the four-prong plus V^o topology. A search is made in these reactions for the production of excited states of the K meson which decay with the emission of one or more pions. The kappa (725) and K^* (892) are discussed in some detail. Evidence is presented for a K^* resonance of mass 1305 MeV. Upper limits are measured for the Kω and Kη decays of the K^*(1420). A K^*+ (892)π⁺ enhancement is observed in this data at 1180 MeV. In addition to a study of K meson excited states, some properties of the ω and η mesons are studied in a production process with very little background. © 1969.

Duke Scholars

Author Alfred T. Goshaw Physics