OPEN AND HIDDEN STRANGENESS PRODUCTION IN NUCLEON-NUCLEON COLLISIONS

Abstract

Strange meson production reactions are expected to provide information on the manifestation of quantum chromodynamics in the non-perturbative regime of energies larger than that of the low energy pion physics. The K meson contains a strange quark (s) or antiquark [Formula: see text] while the η meson has hidden strangeness as it contains some component of the [Formula: see text] pair. In this lecture we present an overview of describing the production of K and η mesons in nucleon-nucleon collisions within an effective Lagrangian model (ELM) where meson production proceeds via excitation, propagation and subsequent decay of intermediate baryonic resonant states. Specific examples are discussed where proper understanding of the data is still lacking.