Experimental study of Λp and Ξ0p interactions in the range 1 – 10 GeV/c

Abstract The reactions Λ p → Λ p, → Σ ± p π ∓ , → Λ p π + π − and → Σ 0 p have been studied in the SLAC 82 inch bubble chamber for incident Λ particles in the momentum range 1–10 GeV/ c . The incident Λ flux was produced by the exposure of a platinum target mounted inside the chamber to a 12 GeV K − beam. A total of 992 events have been analyzed. The reactions are found to be qualitatively similar to corresponding nucleon-nucleon reactions. In particular, the slope parameter B in the elastic cross section d σ /d t = A e Bt has been determined as a function of incident momentum and found to be consistent with that for proton-proton elastic scattering. Angular distributions for the inelastic channels are compared with those of similar nucleon-nucleon reactions, and predictions of relevant exchange models.