Inclusive neutral-strange-particle production in. pi. /sup -/p interactions at 15 GeV/c

A study of the inclusive production of K/sup 0//sub S/, ..lambda.., and Lambda-bar in ..pi../sup -/p interactions at 15 GeV/c is presented. Inclusive cross sections for single neutral strange particles and neutral-strange-particle pairs are given. Longitudinal- and transverse-momentum distributions of the produced particles are presented. The average charged multiplicities of the systems recoiling against the ..lambda.. and the K/sup 0//sub S/ are compared and the results analyzed in the framework of a simple model. The ..lambda.. polarization is found to be in good agreement with ..lambda.. production from other strangeness-nonannihilating processes. Production of ..lambda..'s in the target fragmentation region is studied in the framework of the triple-Regge-pole-exchange model. The cross section for inclusive K/sup +/(890) production has been measured as 195 +- 35 ..mu..b, and the ..sigma../sup +/(1385) inclusive cross section has been found to be 174 +- 25 ..mu..b. The K/sup +/(890) and ..sigma../sup +/(1385) differential cross sections as functions of rapidity and transverse momentum are presented and discussed.