Strangeness Suppression in q-qbar Creation Observed in Exclusive Reactions

Abstract

We measured the ratios of electroproduction cross-sections from a proton target for three exclusive meson-baryon final states: $\Lambda K^+$, $p\pi^0$, and $n\pi^+$, with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. Using a simple model of quark hadronization we extract q-qbar creation probabilities for the first time in exclusive two-body production, in which only a single q-qbar pair is created. We observe a sizable suppression of strange quark-antiquark pairs compared to non-strange pairs, similar to that seen in high-energy production.