The total cross section of the reaction $ppto ppK^+K^-$ has been determined for proton--proton reactions with $p_{beam}=3.67 GeV/c$. This represents the first cross section measurement of the $pp to ppK^-K^+$ channel near threshold, and is equivalent to the inclusive $ppto ppK^-X$ cross section at this beam momentum. The cross section determined at this beam momentum is about a factor 20 lower than that for inclusive $ppto ppK^+X$ meson production at the same CM energy above the corresponding threshold. This large difference in the $K^+$ and $K^-$ meson inclusive production cross sections in proton-proton reactions is in strong contrast to cross sections measured in sub-threshold heavy ion collisions, which are similar in magnitude at the same energy per nucleon below the respective thresholds.
Differential and total cross sections for the pp -> ppK+K- reaction have been measured at a proton beam energy of 2.83 GeV using the COSY-ANKE magnetic spectrometer. Detailed model descriptions fitted to a variety of one-dimensional distributions permit the separation of the pp -> pp phi cross section from that of non-phi production. The differential spectra show that higher partial waves represent the majority of the pp -> pp phi total cross section at an excess energy of 76 MeV, whose energy dependence would then seem to require some s-wave phi-p enhancement near threshold. The non-phi data can be described in terms of the combined effects of two-body final state interactions using the same effective scattering parameters determined from lower energy data.
We present results on the K*(892)+ production in proton-proton collisions at a beam energy of E = 3.5 GeV, which is hitherto the lowest energy at which this mesonic resonance has been observed in nucleon-nucleon reactions. The data are interpreted within a two-channel model that includes the 3-body production of K*(892)+ associated with the Lambda- or Sigma-hyperon. The relative contributions of both channels are estimated. Besides the total cross section sigma(p+p -> K*(892)+ + X) = 9.5 +- 0.9 +1.1 -0.9 +- 0.7 mub, that adds a new data point to the excitation function of the K*(892)+ production in the region of low excess energy, transverse momenta and angular spectra are extracted and compared with the predictions of the two-channel model. The spin characteristics of K*(892)+ are discussed as well in terms of the spin-alignment.
The ratio of the total exclusive production cross sections for $etaprime$ and $eta$ mesons has been measured in the $pp$ reaction at $p_{beam}=3.67$ GeV/c. The observed $etaprime/eta$ ratio is $(0.83pm{0.11}^{+0.23}_{-0.18})times 10^{-2}$ from which the exclusive $etaprime$ meson production cross section is determined to be $(1.12pm{0.15}^{+0.42}_{-0.31})mu b$. Differential cross section distributions have been measured. Their shape is consistent with isotropic $etaprime$ meson production.
The near threshold total cross section and angular distributions of K+K- pair production via the reaction pp --> ppK+K- have been studied at an excess energy of Q = 17 MeV using the COSY-11 facility at the cooler synchrotron COSY. The obtained cross section as well as an upper limit at an excess energy of Q = 3 MeV represent the first measurements on the K+K- production in the region of small excess energies where production via the channel pp --> pp Phi --> ppK+K- is energetically forbidden. The possible influence of a resonant production via intermediate scalar states f0(980) and a0(980) is discussed.
The exclusive production cross sections for $omega$ and $phi$ mesons have been measured in proton-proton reactions at $p_{lab}=3.67$ GeV/c. The observed $phi/omega$ cross section ratio is $(3.8pm0.2^{+1.2}_{-0.9})times 10^{-3}$. After phase space corrections, this ratio is enhanced by about an order of magnitude relative to naive predictions based upon the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka (OZI) rule, in comparison to an enhancement by a factor $sim 3$ previously observed at higher beam momenta. The modest increase of this enhancement near the production threshold is compared to the much larger increase of the $phi/omega$ ratio observed in specific channels of $bar pp$ annihilation experiments. Furthermore, differential cross section results are also presented which indicate that although the $phi$ meson is predominantly produced from a $^3P_1$ proton-proton entrance channel, other partial waves contribute significantly to the production mechanism at this beam momentum.