Meson Production at Large Transverse Momentum

Abstract

An earlier, rather general discussion of inclusive reactions at large transverse momentum is made quantitative by the inclusion of extra, dynamical assumptions. The model investigated is one in which the predominant production at large transverse momentum is of mesons of the pseudoscalar octet. It is predicted that equal numbers of ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{+}$ and ${K}^{+}$ are produced, and that at 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{} the production of positively charged particles exceeds that of negatively charged particles by about 50%. At rather smaller angles, the + to - charge ratio rises to about four at the upper end of the range of allowed values of transverse momentum. When a large-transverse-momentum particle is produced, there is a small increase in the number of particles moving in transverse directions with small transverse momentum, at the expense of the longitudinal multiplicity.