Photoproduction Of K+ K- Meson Pairs On The Proton

The exclusive reaction gamma p -> pK(+) K- was studied in the photon energy range 3.0-3.8 GeV and momentum transfer range 0.6 < -t < 1.3 GeV2. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. In this kinematic range the integrated luminosity was approximately 20 pb(-1). The reaction was isolated by detecting the K+ and the proton in CLAS, and reconstructing the K- via the missing-mass technique. Moments of the dikaon decay angular distributions were extracted from the experimental data. Besides the dominant contribution of the phi meson in the P wave, evidence for S - P interference was found. The differential production cross sections d sigma/dt for individual waves in the mass range of the phi resonance were extracted and compared to predictions of a Regge-inspired model. This is the first time the t-dependent cross section of the S-wave contribution to the elastic K+ K- photoproduction has been measured.