K⁰S meson production in inelastic p+p interactions at 31, 40 and 80 Ge-1.00006ptV\!/\!c beam momentum measured by NA61$$/$$SHINE at the CERN SPS

The yields of K⁰S K S 0 mesons have been measured in inelastic p+p interactions at incident projectile momenta of 31, 40 and 80 Ge-1.00006ptV\!/\!c Ge V / c ( √sNN=7.7, 8.8 s NN = 7.7 , 8.8 and 12.3 Ge-1.00006ptV Ge V , respectively). The data were recorded by the NA61 $$/$$ / SHINE spectrometer at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron and the K⁰S K S 0 mesons identified via their decays into π ⁺ π ⁻ π + π - pairs. Double-differential distributions are presented as function of transverse momentum and rapidity. The mean multiplicities of K⁰S K S 0 mesons were determined to be (5.95 ± 0.19 (stat) ± 0.30 (sys)) × 10⁻² ( 5.95 ± 0.19 ( s t a t ) ± 0.30 ( s y s ) ) × 10 - 2 at 31 Ge-1.00006ptV\!/\!c Ge V / c , (7.61 ± 0.13 (stat) ± 0.43 (sys)) × 10⁻² ( 7.61 ± 0.13 ( s t a t ) ± 0.43 ( s y s ) ) × 10 - 2 at 40 Ge-1.00006ptV\!/\!c Ge V / c and (11.58 ± 0.12 (stat) ± 0.55 (sys)) × 10⁻² ( 11.58 ± 0.12 ( s t a t ) ± 0.55 ( s y s ) ) × 10 - 2 at 80 Ge-1.00006ptV\!/\!c Ge V / c . The results on K⁰S K S 0 production are compared with the production of charged kaons in corresponding reactions and with model calculations ( Epos1.99 , SMASH 2.0 and PHSD) as well as with published data from other experiments.