Strangeness production in Pontecorvo reactions on deuterium Original Research Article

From a Ks0 and Λ enriched data sample the rare Pontecorvo reactions View the MathML source and View the MathML source were clearly observed for the first time. Analyses for missing Kl0 or charged decaying Ks0 in the final state show surprisingly similar branching ratios (≈2 · 10−6) for both reactions. This rules out a description of these reaction by a two step mechanism and favours strongly a model of a statistically decaying fireball, formed in the annihilation process. From comparison to the channel View the MathML source open strangeness is found to be produced at a level of 10%. Additional reactions of the Pontecorvo type were identified where the recoiling baryon is a neutron and the meson decays to Ks0Ks0.