Inclusive. delta. /sup + +/ production in. pi. /sup -/p interactions at 147 GeV/c

The inclusive production of the ..delta../sup + +/(1232) resonance in ..pi../sup -/p collisions at 147 GeV/c has been studied. The ..delta../sup + +/ is found to be produced in comparable amounts in four-, six-, eight-, and ten-prong events. The Feynman-x, t', P/sub T//sup 2/, and the decay angular distributions of the ..delta../sup + +/ are found to be consistent with the predictions of a one-pion-exchange model with absorption. Essentially all of the ..delta../sup + +/ are found to be associated with a ..delta../sup + +/ ..pi../sup -/ low-mass enhancement. The ..delta../sup + +/ cross section is approximately constant from 11 to 205 GeV/c, which could indicate that the ..delta../sup + +/ is a decay product of a target-fragmentation object. While the one-pion-exchange character of the ..delta../sup + +/ production and the target-fragmentation character of the ..delta../sup + +/..pi../sup -/ low-mass enhancement can both be described in terms of a Deck-type diagram, a Monte Carlo study indicates that any mechanism that produces particles with limited transverse momentum will yield a ..delta../sup + +/..pi../sup -/ low-mass enhancement.