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

We have studied inclusive K/sup 0//sub S/, ..lambda.., and Lambda-bar production and strange-resonance production in the reactions pp ..-->.. (K/sup 0//sub S/, ..lambda.., or Lambda-bar) + ..pi../sup + -/ + anything at 405 GeV/c. The observed cross sections are 7.43 +- 0.45 mb for K/sup 0//sub S/, 4.01 +- 0.35 mb for ..lambda.., and 0.63 +- 0.12 mb for Lambda-bar. From the analyses of the effective-mass distributions for the (K/sup 0//sub S/..pi../sup + -/), (..lambda pi../sup + -/), and (Lambda-bar..pi../sup + -/) systems, the resonance production cross sections are determined as 4.1 +- 1.0 mb for K/sup asterisk/+(890), 3.6 +- 1.0 mb for K/sup asterisk/-(890), 3.4 +- 1.7 mb for K/sup asterisk/ +- (1420), 0.67 +- 0.12 mb for ..sigma../sup +/(1385), 0.45 +- 0.09 mb for ..sigma../sup -/(1385), and 0.25 +- 0.08 mb for Sigma-bar/sup + -/(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.