K$sup +$-NUCLEON INTERACTION. III. PION PRODUCTION BY K$sup +$ MESONS ON HYDROGEN AND DEUTERIUM

Mesons (K/sup +/) interacted in a bubble chamber at 642 Mev/c. A total of 40,000 photographs were taken. Each two-prong event in hydrogen was analyzed for kinematical consistency with elastic K/sup +/ scattering (K/sup +/ + p yields K/sup +/ + p) and the inelastic pion production reactions (K/sup +/ + p yields K/sup +/ + p + pi /sup 0/ K/sup +/ + p yields K/sup +/ + n + pi /sup +/, and K/sup +/ + p yields K/sup 0/ + p + pi /sup +/). In each case, the fit of the measured quantities to the kinematics of pion elastic scattering and single pion production was also examined. Studies were also made of the interactions of mesons (K/sup +/) with deuterons. It was not possible to uniquely classify any events yielding only two charged particles. The total number of hydrogen events was 96. In deuterium there were 92 events, 69 of which were interactions with neutrons. Cross sections were calculated. Branching ratios consistent with a K- pi interaction in the T = 1/2 state were observed. (M.C.G.)