Cross Section Evaluation for Exclusive Channels of \(\boldsymbol{K}^{\boldsymbol{+}}\boldsymbol{\Lambda}\) and \(\boldsymbol{K}^{\boldsymbol{+}}\boldsymbol{\Sigma}^{\boldsymbol{0}}\) Electroproduction off Protons Using CLAS Detector Data

Abstract

In this work, a method for evaluating the cross sections of electroproduction of \(K^{+}\Lambda^{0}\) and \(K^{+}\Sigma^{0}\) off protons in the region of invariant masses of final hadrons \(M_{K}+M_{Y}<W<2.65\) GeV (\(M_{K}\) and \(M_{Y}\) being the masses of the kaon and hyperon, respectively) and squares of four-momentum transfers of virtual photons, i.e., photon virtualities \(0<Q^{2}<5\) GeV\({}^{2}\), is developed based on experimental data of these exclusive channels’ cross sections measured by the CLAS detector in Hall B at Jefferson Lab. A set of algorithms has been implemented to evaluate the differential cross sections of these channels, along with their statistical and systematic uncertainties. A program was developed for the evaluation of differential cross sections and structure functions using C++ and Python libraries. An interactive website was created for working with the program, enabling the analysis of one-dimensional and two-dimensional dependences of structure functions and differential cross sections. The evaluation of differential cross sections for the \(K^{+}\Lambda\) and \(K^{+}\Sigma^{0}\) electroproduction channels is necessary for extracting the structure function \(\sigma_{LT^{\prime}}\) from the data on the polarization asymmetry of electroproduction reactions of these final states with longitudinally polarized electrons. The obtained results are also important for the development of realistic Monte Carlo event generators in planning future experiments and for evaluating the efficiency of detecting final particles when extracting reaction cross sections from experimental data.