Electromagnetic K+ production on the deuteron with hyperon recoil polarization

Photo- and electroproduction processes of K+ on the deuteron are investigated theoretically. Modern hyperon-nucleon forces as well as an updated kaon production operator on the nucleon are used. Sizable effects of the hyperon-nucleon final state interaction are seen in various observables. Especially the photoproduction double polarization observable C_z is shown to provide a handle to distinguish different hyperon-nucleon force models.Comment: 4 pages, 7 eps-figures, talk given at the VII International Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics, Torino, Italy, October 23-27, 2000, to appear in the proceedings (Nucl. Phys. A

Violation of the Δ\DeltaI=1/2 rule in the nonmesonic weak decay of Λ\Lambda hypernuclei

Violations of the $\Delta$I=1/2 rule are investigated in the nonmesonic weak hypernuclear decay using a weak $\Lambda$N$\to$NN transition potential based on meson exchange. While the weak $\Delta$I=3/2 matrix elements of baryons with pseudoscalar mesons are known to be very small, the same matrix elements of baryons with vector mesons, evaluated in the factorization approximation, are found to be significant. Within the uncertainties of the factorization approximation we find that the total rate increases by at most 6% lying within the error bars of the more recent experimental result. The neutron- to proton-induced rate, on the other hand, can change by up to a factor of two, while the asymmetry parameter is strongly affected as well.Comment: 17 pages. Paper related to a contribution presented at the International Conference on Hypernuclear and Strange Particle Physics (HYP97). Submitted to Phys. Lett.

The nonmesonic weak decay of the hypertriton

The nonmesonic decay of the hypertriton is calculated based on a hypertriton wavefunction and 3N scattering states, which are rigorous solutions of 3-body Faddeev equations using realistic NN and hyperon-nucleon interactions. The pion-exchange together with heavier meson exchanges for the $\Lambda N \to N N$ transition is considered. The total nonmesonic decay rate is found to be 0.5% of the free $\Lambda$ decay rate. Integrated as well as differential decay rates are given. The p- and n- induced decays are discussed thoroughly and it is shown that the corresponding total rates cannot be measured individually.Comment: 27 pages, 20 figures, revtex, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Inclusive K+K^+ and exclusive K+YK^+Y photoproduction on the deuteron: Λ\Lambda- and Σ\Sigma-threshold phenomena

Inclusive $K^+$ and exclusive $K^+Y$ photoproduction on the deuteron are investigated theoretically. Modern hyperon-nucleon forces and a recently updated kaon photoproduction operator for the $\gamma +N\to K^++Y$ process are used. Sizable effects of the hyperon-nucleon final state interaction are found near the $K^+\Lambda N$ and $K^+\Sigma N$ thresholds in the inclusive reaction. Angular distributions for the exclusive process show clear $YN$ final state interaction effects in certain kinematic regions. Precise data especially for the inclusive process around the $K^+\Sigma N$ threshold would help to clarify the strength and property of the $\Lambda N-\Sigma N$ interaction.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Lessons to be learned from the coherent photoproduction of pseudoscalar mesons

We study the coherent photoproduction of pseudoscalar mesons---particularly of neutral pions---placing special emphasis on the various sources that put into question earlier nonrelativistic-impulse-approximation calculations. These include: final-state interactions, relativistic effects, off-shell ambiguities, and violations to the impulse approximation. We establish that, while distortions play an essential role in the modification of the coherent cross section, the uncertainty in our results due to the various choices of optical-potential models is relatively small (of at most 30%). By far the largest uncertainty emerges from the ambiguity in extending the many on-shell-equivalent representations of the elementary amplitude off the mass shell. Indeed, relativistic impulse-approximation calculations that include the same pionic distortions, the same nuclear-structure model, and two sets of elementary amplitudes that are identical on-shell, lead to variations in the magnitude of the coherent cross section by up to factors of five. Finally, we address qualitatively the assumption of locality implicit in most impulse-approximation treatments, and suggest that the coherent reaction probes---in addition to the nuclear density---the polarization structure of the nucleus.Comment: Manuscript is 27 pages long and includes 11 eps figure