On the production of the six-quark H dibaryon in the (K-, K+) reaction

Abstract

We investigate several ways of producing the stable doubly strange six-quark dibaryon H predicted by the MIT bag model. Various kinematical and dynamical arguments indicate that the (K-, K+) double-strangeness-exchange reaction on nuclear targets affords the best chance for observing the H. Cross sections for the prototype reaction He3(K-, K+n)H are calculated, using empirical data on the reaction K-p K+- as input, as well as an oscillator model for the quark-fusion process -p H. The spectrum for the quasielastic process He3(K-, K+)n-p is also calculated. For coincidence experiments involving both K+ and neutron detection at forward angles, the cross section for H production ranges from 10-30 nb/sr2 for K- beam momenta between 1.4 and 2.2 GeV/c. If the H lies below the threshold, it can be nicely separated from the K+ quasielastic background, although +'s misidentified as K+'s can be a problem for certain H masses. If only the K+ is detected, the separation of the H signal ( 0.5 b/sr) from the quasielastic background can be achieved through a careful measurement of the K+ momentum spectrum. We assess the effects on our results of the rapid momentum dependence in the K-p K+- reaction, as well as short-range correlations in the He3 wave function. © 1983 The American Physical Society.