Systematics of exclusive diffraction dissociation modes in K$^{\pm}$p interactions at 32 GeV/c

We present results of an investigation of diffraction dissociation in exclusive channels inK± p interactions at 32 GeV/c. Total cross sections are determined forK±→K±π+π−,K±2π+2π−,K0π±π±K±2π+π−,K±K+K−,K±p\(\bar p\),\(\bar \Lambda \)p, andp→pπ+π−,p2π+2π−,pK+K−,ΛK+,ΛK+π+π− dissociation modes, ranging from a high of ≃ 300 μb to ∼ 3 μb. Thedσ/dt′ differential cross sections of most of the systems studied exhibit structure, with breaks of slope att′ ∼ 0.2 to 0.5 GeV2; some modes have a sharp forward spike with a slope exceeding 10 GeV−2. A systematic investigation of two-body dissociation modesK→A+B andp→A′+B′ shows that these cross sections decrease with increasing threshold massMA+MB, that they are comparable for kaon and proton dissociations at similar diffractive excitation masses and are systematically suppressed by a factor 3–4 for dissociations requiring an\(s\bar s\) quark pair creation when compared to\(u\bar u\) pair creation indicating a breakdown ofSU3 symmetry for the\(q\bar q\) sea.