Resolving flavor structure of Λ fragmentation functions via asymmetry in Λ/Λ̄ production

We investigate the flavor structure of the Λ fragmentation functions by means of the asymmetry AΛ for Λ/Λ̄ produced in hadron–nucleon collisions. The production asymmetries for Λ/Λ̄ in k+p, pp and π−p collisions are presented as functions of Feynman variable xF with two typical sets of quark to Λ (Λ̄) fragmentation functions: one set with SU(3) flavor symmetry and another set with SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking. The xF distributions of AΛ for Λ/Λ̄ in pp and π−p collisions are not sensitive to the SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking in the fragmentation functions. However, we find that a measurement of the xF distribution of AΛ in k+p collisions can resolve the flavor structure of Λ fragmentation functions.