K*0 and φ meson production in proton–nucleus interactions at sqrt(s)=41.6 GeV

The inclusive production cross sections of the strange vector mesons K*0, K̄*0, and φ have been measured in interactions of 920 GeV protons with C, Ti, and W targets with the HERA-B detector at the HERA storage ring. Differential cross sections as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum have been measured in the central rapidity region and for transverse momenta up to pT = 3.5 GeV/c. The atomic number dependence is parametrised as σpA=σpN*Aα, where σpN is the proton–nucleon cross section. Within the phase space accessible, α(K*0)=0.86±0.03, α(K̄*0)=0.87±0.03, and α(φ)=0.96±0.02. The total proton–nucleon cross sections, determined by extrapolating the differential measurements to full phase space, are σpN→K*0=(5.06±0.54) mb, σpN→K̄*0=(4.02±0.45) mb, and σpN→φ=(1.17±0.11) mb. For all resonances the Cronin effect is observed; compared to the measurements of Cronin et al. for K± mesons, the measured values of α for φ mesons coincide with those of K+ mesons for all transverse momenta, while the enhancement for K*0/K̄*0 mesons is smaller.