Strangeness production at low Q(2) in deep-inelastic ep scattering at HERA

Abstract

The production of neutral strange hadrons is investigated using deep-inelastic scattering events measured with the H1 detector at HERA. The measurements are made in the phase space defined by the negative four-momentum transfer squared of the photon 2 LT Q(2) LT 100 GeV2 and the inelasticity 0.1 LT y LT 0.6. The K-s(0) s and Lambda((Lambda) over bar) production cross sections and their ratios are determined. K-s(0) s production is compared to the production of charged particles in the same region of phase space. The Lambda-(Lambda) over bar asymmetry is also measured and found to be consistent with zero. Predictions of leading order Monte Carlo programs are compared to the data.