skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Search for the {theta}{sup +} pentaquark in the reactions {gamma}p{yields}K{sup 0}K{sup +}n and {gamma}p{yields}K{sup 0}K{sup 0}p

Journal Article · · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
; ; ; ; ;  [1]; ; ; ; ;  [2]; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;  [3]
  1. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Genova, and Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita di Genova, 16146 Genova (Italy)
  2. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180-3590 (United States)
  3. University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina 29208 (United States)

The exclusive reactions {gamma}p{yields}K{sup 0}K{sup +}n and {gamma}p{yields}K{sup 0}K{sup 0}p have been studied in the photon energy range 1.6-3.8 GeV, searching for evidence of the exotic baryon {theta}{sup +}(1540) in the decays {theta}{sup +}{yields}nK{sup +} and {theta}{sup +}{yields}pK{sup 0}. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The integrated luminosity was about 70 pb{sup -1}. The reactions have been isolated by detecting the K{sup +} and proton directly, the neutral kaon via its decay to K{sub S}{yields}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} and the neutron or neutral kaon via the missing mass technique. The mass and width of known hyperons such as {sigma}{sup +}, {sigma}{sup -} and {lambda}(1116) were used as a check of the mass determination accuracy and experimental resolution. Approximately 100 000 {lambda}*(1520)'s and 150 000 {phi}'s were observed in the K{sup 0}K{sup +}n and K{sup 0}K{sup 0}p final state, respectively. No evidence for the {theta}{sup +} pentaquark was found in the nK{sup +} or pK{sub S} invariant mass spectra. Upper limits were set on the production cross section of the reaction {gamma}p{yields}K{sup 0}{theta}{sup +} as functions of center-of-mass angle, nK{sup +} and pK{sub S} masses. Combining the results of the two reactions, the 95% C.L. upper limit on the total cross section for a resonance peaked at 1540 MeV was found to be 0.7 nb. Within most of the available theoretical models, this corresponds to an upper limit on the {theta}{sup +} width, {gamma}{sub {theta}{sup +}}, ranging between 0.01 and 7 MeV.

OSTI ID:
20869208
Journal Information:
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 74, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.74.032001; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English