Inclusive production of Σ+-(1385) in K-p interactions at 10 and 16 GeV/c

The inclusive production of Σ+(1385) and Σ-(1385) has been studied in K-p interactions at 10 and 16 GeV/c. It is found that the cross sections for the reactions K-p → Σ+-(1385) + anything are approximately constant in the energy range from 10 to 32 GeV/c, being approximately 350 μb for Σ+(1385) and approximately 250 μb for Σ-(1385). The dsigma/dp(perpendicular)2 distributions for Σ+-(1385) fall off exponentially with increasing p(perpendicular)2 with slopes of about 3 (GeV/c)-2. The dsigma/dx distributions for Σ+(1385) and Σ-(1385) are markedly different: the production of Σ-(1385) is symmetrical forwards and backwards in the c.m.s.; for Σ+(1385), the distribution is the same as for Σ-(1385) in the forward direction, but presents a large excess of events in the backward direction. This indicates that for the production of both Σ+(1385) and Σ-(1385) the fragmentation of the incoming kaon is negligible. The fragmentation of the target proton is negligible for Σ-(1385), but it is important for Σ+(1385) and is responsible for the excess (approximately 100 μb) of its cross section over that for Σ-(1385). (Auth.)