Inclusive single and double diffractive dissociations inK ⁺ p interactions at 32 GeV/c

Abstract

We study single and double inclusive diffractive production in a 32 GeV/c K ⁺ p experiment in MIRABELLE at the Serpukhov accelerator. From reactionsK ⁺ p→K ⁺+X ⁺ andK ⁺ p→X ⁺+p we determine the total proton and kaon single diffractive dissociation cross sections$\sigma (p\xrightarrow{{K^ + }}p_D ) = 0.90 \pm 0.12 mb$ and$\sigma (K^ + \xrightarrow{p}K_D^ + ) = 0$. 90±0.17 mb, respectively. In either case the only notable contributions come from dissociations into 1 and 3 charged particles. Kaon dissociation exhibits a pronounced slope-mass correlation. The search for double diffractive production in reactionsK ⁺ p→(K ⁺π⁻π⁺)+X ⁺ andK ⁺ p→(pπ ⁺ π ⁻)+X ⁺ leads in either case to an estimated total double diffractive cross section σ(K ⁺p→K ⁺_D p_D) of ≅220 μb. The double dissociation differential cross section exhibits a large slope of ≅10GeV⁻² in the nearthreshold mass region, rapidly decreasing to ≅4 GeV⁻² with increasing excitation mass. At our c.m. energy$(\sqrt s \simeq 8 GeV)$ the ratio σ_{inel dif}/σ_el is 0.85±0.10, the total diffractive cross section σ_dif≡σ_el+σ_{inel dif}=4.41±0.24 mb and the fraction σ_dif(K ⁺ p)/σ_tot(K ⁺ p) is 25±2%. TheK ⁺ andK ⁻ diffractive excitation mass spectra, differential cross sections and total diffractive cross sections are very similar for both single and double dissociations.