Lambda(0) polarization in 800-GeV/cpp --> p(f)(Lambda0K+)

Phys Rev Lett. 2002 Feb 11;88(6):061801. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.061801. Epub 2002 Jan 24.

Abstract

We report results from a study of Lambda(0) polarization in the exclusive reaction pp --> p(f)(Lambda0K+) at 800-GeV/c. We observe a dependence of the polarization on the Lambda0K+ invariant mass with large (+71%) positive polarization at small mass (1.63-GeV/c(2)) and large (-43%) negative polarization at large mass (2.75-GeV/c(2)). This observation confirms the result of the CERN ISR R608 experiment and extends the range over which the effect is observed. The strong dependence of the polarization on the Lambda0K+ invariant mass suggests that the origin of the polarization is closely related to the production dynamics of the diffractively produced Lambda0K+ system.