INCLUSIVE PRODUCTION OF STRANGE AND VECTOR MESONS IN POSITRON ELECTRON ANNIHILATION AT 29 GEV

The Mark II detector is used to measure the inclusive production rates for K('0), K('(+OR-)), (rho)('0), K*('0) and K*('(+OR-)) in a sample of 59,489 hadronic events produced in e('+)e('-) annihilation at 29 GeV. The inclusive rates for (rho)('0) and K*('0) + (')K*('0) production for momenta greater than 1 GeV/c are found to be 0.44 (+OR-) 0.04 (+OR-) 0.06 per event and 0.42 (+OR-) 0.05 (+OR-) 0.08 per event respectively. The rate for K*('(+OR-)) production for momenta greater than 2 GeV/c is found to be 0.26 (+OR-) 0.05 (+OR-) 0.06 per event. The reate for K('0) + (')K('0) production over the full momentum range is found to be 1.27 (+OR-) 0.03 (+OR-) 0.15 per event.

The differential production rates for K('0), (rho)('0) and K*('(+OR-)) are, in addition, determined as a function of the particle energy. The inclusive rate for K('(+OR-)) is also measured for K('(+OR-)) momenta less than 900 MeV/c and is found to be 1.31 (+OR-) 0.09 (+OR-) 0.19 times the K('0) + (')K('0) rate in the same momentum region. These production rates are used to determine the particle content of hadronic events at 29 GeV and are compared to the rates predicted by theoretical models of parton fragmentation.