σ− Production and decay properties in K −p → σ−π+

Abstract

Measurements are presented for σ − production and decay angular distributions in the reaction K −p → σ − π + at beam momenta of 430, 453, 473 and 493 MeV/ c. The behaviour of the σ − polarization is compared with the predictions of two partial wave analyses. The σ − decay asymmetry parameter and σ − magnetic moment are found to be α − = −0.062 ± 0.024 and μ σ− = −0.71 ± 1.25 nuclear magnetons, respectively.