Measurement of the induced Λ0(1116) polarization in K+ electroproduction at CLAS

Abstract

We are using the p(e, e′ K+p)π− reaction to perform a measurement of the induced polarization of the electroproduced L(1116) using its pπ− parity-violating weak decay. This study uses the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) to detect the scattered electron, the kaon, and the decay proton over the kinematics 0.8 ≤ Q2 ≤ 3.5 GeV2, 1.6 ≤ W ≤ 3.0 GeV, and the full kaon CM angle range. In this experiment a 5.5 GeV electron beam was incident upon an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. The goal is to map out the kinematic dependencies for this polarization observable to provide new constraints for models of the electromagnetic production of K-hyperon final states. Along with previously published photo- and electroproduction cross sections and polarization observables from CLAS, SAPHIR, LEPS, and GRAAL, these data are needed in a coupled-channel analysis to identify previously unobserved s-channel resonances. Preliminary polarization results will be presented.