Statistical approach for unpolarized fragmentation functions for the octet baryons

A statistical model for the parton distributions in the nucleon has proven its efficiency in the analysis of deep inelastic scattering data, so we propose to extend this approach to the description of unpolarized fragmentation functions for the octet baryons. The characteristics of the model are determined by using some data on the inclusive production of proton and $\Lambda$ in unpolarized deep inelastic scattering and a next-to-leading analysis of the available experimental data on the production of unpolarized octet baryons in $e^+e^-$ annihilation. Our results show that both parton distributions and fragmentation functions are compatible with the statistical approach, in terms of a few free parameters, whose interpretation will be discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 7 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.