KS0K−Decay ofA2−Produced by 20.3 -GeV/cπ−on Hydrogen

Abstract

We present the results of an analysis of data for the reaction ${\pi }^{-}p\to K_S^0{K}^{-}p$ at 20.3-GeV/c incident $\pi$ momentum. We find that the $K^0{K}^{-}$ effective-mass spectrum shows a single peak in the $A_2$ region which is well fitted by a Breit-Wigner shape. The data in the $A_2$-peak region are inconsistent with the split-$A_2$ shape reported earlier. The distribution in $t$ of the $A_2$ events shows a forward dip followed by an exponential falloff. The $A_2$ decay angular distribution is well fitted by a single resonance with quantum numbers $J^P=2^{+}$. The results of an analysis of the density-matrix elements for this reaction are given.