Measurement of the $\overline{p}p \to K_S K_S \eta$ cross section at beam momenta in the regions of 1.45 and 1.7 GeV/c

Abstract

The PS185 experiment at LEAR/CERN has investigated strangeness production in antiproton-proton collisions with final states such as $\overline{\Lambda} \Lambda$, $\overline{\Sigma}^0 \Lambda + c.c$, $\overline{\Sigma^+} \Sigma^+$, $\overline{\Sigma^-} \Sigma^-$ and $K_S K_S$. Results are presented from a study of about 32,000 {$K_S K_S X$} events obtained at several antiproton momenta in the regions of 1.45 and 1.7 GeV/c. The $\overline{p} p \to K_S K_S \eta$ cross sections extracted at these momenta constitute the first measurement of this reaction in flight and are broadly consistent with expectations of a phase-space extrapolation of branching ratios from annihilation at rest.