On the relation between $$K^{0}_{s}$$ K s 0 and charged kaon yields in proton–proton collisions

Abstract

Abstract A compilation of the experimental $$p+p$$ p + p data of neutral and charged kaon production has revealed a discrepancy between the observed $$K^{0}_{s}$$ K s 0 yield and the the average number of produced charged kaons $$K^{0}_{s}=(K^{+}+K^{-})/2$$ K s 0 = ( K + + K - ) / 2 . This widespread relation holds only for a colliding system that is an uniform population w.r. to the isospin (i.e. that consists of an equal number of all members of a given isospin multiplet). This is not the case for $$p+p$$ p + p collisions therefore one should not expect that it will describe the data accurately. A much better agreement is obtained with a model based on the quark structure of the participating hadrons.