Measurement of Induced Polarization of $\Lambda$(1116) in Kaon Electroproduction With CLAS

ORAL

Abstract

The CLAS Collaboration is using the $p(e,e'K^+p)\pi^-$ reaction to perform a measurement of the induced polarization of the electroproduced $\Lambda$(1116). The parity-violating weak decay of the $\Lambda$ into $p\pi^{-}$ (64\%) allows extraction of the recoil polarization of the $\Lambda$. This study uses the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) to detect the scattered electron, the kaon, and the decay proton. CLAS allows for a large kinematic acceptance in $Q^2$ ($0.73\leq Q^2\leq 3.5$ GeV$^2$), $W$ ($1.6\leq W \leq 3.0$ GeV), as well as the kaon scattering angle. In this experiment a 5.499 GeV electron beam was incident upon an unpolarized liquid-hydrogen target. The goal is to map out the kinematic dependencies for this polarization observable to provide new constraints for models of the electromagnetic production of $K$-hyperon final states. Along with previously published photo- and electroproduction cross sections and polarization observables from CLAS, SAPHIR, and GRAAL, these data will ultimately be useful in coupled-channel analyses and will potentially help identify previously unobserved or poorly determined $s$-channel resonance terms. Preliminary results will be presented.

Authors

  • M.Y. Gabrielyan

  • B.A. Raue

  • S. Dhamija

    Florida International University

  • Daniel Carman

    Jefferson Lab, Jefferson Laboratory