STUDY OF THE REACTION PI-P-]NKOSKOS AT 6.0 AND 7.0 GEV-C

The KS0KS0 system produced in the reaction π-p→nKS0KS0 at 6.0 and 7 0 GeV/c has been studied utilizing the ANL 1.5-m streamer-chamber facility. A 400 000-photograph exposure yielded 5096 unweighted nKS0KS0 events. The cross section for this reaction was determined to be 9.6 ± 1.3 μb at 6.0 GeV/c and 8.7 ± 1.1 μb at 7.0 GeV/c. The decay angular distributions were parametrized in terms of moments of the spherical harmonics. The Y40 moment was fitted to interfering Breit-Wigner amplitudes for the f and f′ mesons. Using this fit, the branching ratio R=Γ(f→KK̄)Γ(f→all) was found to be (2.3 ± 0.8)%. An energy-independent production-amplitude analysis revealed an enhancement in the S-wave amplitude near 1300 MeV. The properties of the S-wave enhancement are discussed and compared with those observed in other recent experiments. Extrapolated cross sections for the reaction ππ→KS0KS0 are presented. We find a cross section considerably below the S-wave unitarity limit in the S* region. © 1979 The American Physical Society.