Systematic Study ofK±Charge Exchange from 3 to 6 GeV/c

Abstract

Differential cross sections for $K^{-}p\to {\overline{K}}^{0}n$ and $K^{+}n\to K^{0}p$ have been measured at 3, 4, and 6 GeV/c using a data sample of 6000 events. Contrary to simple exchange-degenerate models, the ratio of $K^{+}$ to $K^{-}$ cross sections was found to be approximately 1.35, with little dependence on either $s$ or $t$. Both reactions show a shallow dip near the forward direction, suggesting the importance of spin-flip amplitudes.