Application of the Veneziano model with pion and pomeron exchange to the reaction K −p → nK −π+ at 10 GeV/ c

Abstract

The generalized Veneziano model is applied to the reaction K −p→nK − π + at 10 GeV/ c. This reaction requires facing two of the major difficulties of the model, namely (i) pomeron exchange, (ii) dominant contribution of pion exchange, with possibility of some vector-meson contribution. The analysis is made first without pomeron exchange on a subset of the events, then on all events, with pomeron exchange included. It is found that though pion exchange is the dominant process, satisfactory descriptions of differential cross sections and longitudinal momentum distributions are obtained only when a contribution of about 15% from vector-meson exchange is included. Pomeron exchange, when considered, contributes about 25% of the cross sections. Most of the experimental distributions at 10 GeV/ c are satisfactorily described, but the predicted variation of the cross section with incident momentum is different from experiment, indicating that the model, as employed, still has some difficulties.