Probing quark fragmentation functions for spin-12 baryon production in unpolarized e+e− annihilation Original Research Article

We study the measurement of the quark fragmentation functions for spin-12 baryon production (Λ and Λ, in particular) in unpolarized e+e− annihilation. The spin-dependent fragmentation functions ĝ1(z) and ĥ1(z) can be probed in the process as a result of quark-antiquark spin correlation and the weak decay of the baryons. The relevant cross section is expressed as a product of the two-jet cross section, the fragmentation functions, and the differential width of the hyperon decay.