Inclusive V-0 production cross sections from 920 GeV fixed target proton-nucleus collisions

Inclusive differential cross sections \(d\sigma_{pA}/dx_F\) and \(d\sigma_{pA}/dp_t^2\) for the production of K 0 S , \(\Lambda\), and \(\bar{\Lambda}\) particles are measured at HERA in proton-induced reactions on C, Al, Ti, and W targets. The incident beam energy is 920 GeV, corresponding to \(\sqrt{s} = 41.6\) GeV in the proton-nucleon system. The ratios of differential cross sections \(d\sigma_{pA}\)(K\(^{0}_{S})/d\sigma_{pA}(\Lambda)\) and \(d\sigma_{pA}(\bar{\Lambda})/d\sigma_{pA}(\Lambda)\) are measured to be \(6.2\pm 0.5\) and \(0.66\pm 0.07\), respectively, for xF \(\approx\!-0.06\). No significant dependence upon the target material is observed. Within errors, the slopes of the transverse momentum distributions \(d\sigma_{pA}/dp_t^2\) also show no significant dependence upon the target material. The dependence of the extrapolated total cross sections \(\sigma_{pA}\) on the atomic mass A of the target material is discussed, and the deduced cross sections per nucleon \(\sigma_{pN}\) are compared with results obtained at other energies.