A partial-wave analysis of the (K+K-π-) sytem produced in π-p→K+K-π-p at 16 GeV/c

The reaction π-p → K+K-π-p at 16 GeV/c was studied in the CERN OMEGA spectrometer and a partial-wave analysis (PWA) of the low-mass (K+K-π-) system (1.3-2.0 GeV) was performed. Only states in the unnatural spin-parity series produced by natural parity exchange are important and they approximately conserve t-channel helicity. The 1+S Ksup(*)K wave dominates the low-mass (K+K-π-) region. We observe an enhancement in the 2-P Ksup(*)K wave at a mass of 1.7 GeV, consistent with the decay of the A3 resonance. (orig.)