Inclusive study of strange-particle production in pp interactions at 405 GeV/c

We have studied inclusive KS⁰, Λ, and Λ production and strange-resonance production in the reactions pp→(KS⁰, Λ, or Λ)+π^±+anything at 405 GeV/c. The observed cross sections are 7.43 ±{} 0.45 mb for KS⁰, 4.01 ±{} 0.35 mb for Λ, and 0.63 ±{} 0.12 mb for Λ. From the analyses of the effective-mass distributions for the (KS⁰π^±), (Λπ^±), and (Λπ^±) systems, the resonance production cross sections are determined as 4.1 ±{} 1.0 mb for K*+(890), 3.6 ±{} 1.0 mb for K^*-(890), 3.4 ±{} 1.7 mb for K^*±(1420), 0.67 ±{} 0.12 mb for Σ⁺(1385), 0.45 ±{} 0.09 mb for Σ^-(1385), and 0.25 ±{} 0.08 mb for Σ^±(1385). The inclusive total and differential cross sections are discussed in comparison with data at lower energies. The direct production cross sections for pseudoscalar, vector, and tensor K mesons are estimated to be 2.3 ±{} 1.2, 3.4 ±{} 1.0, and 1.7 ±{} 0.8 mb, respectively. Direct pseudoscalar-K-meson production accounts for less than one-third of the total inclusive kaon production. Evidence of vector-meson dominance in inclusive meson production at high energy is indicated.