Inclusive Photoproduction of Neutral k* Mesons

Available from UMI in association with The British Library. Requires signed TDF. This thesis presents results from the 1985 data taking of the WA69 experiment at the OMEGA spectrometer, CERN, Geneva, performed by the EGAMMA collaboration (Bonn, CERN, Lancaster, Manchester, RAL, Sheffield, Yerevan). A tagged photon beam of energy 70-170 GeV, produced through bremsstrahlung of an electron beam, was incident on a liquid hydrogen target. The OMEGA spectrometer, together with various downstream detectors, were triggered to record the resulting hadronic interactions. In this thesis the experimental apparatus and software are described, with particular emphasis on the Ring Image Cerenkov detector (RICH). Preliminary analysis of the inclusive production of neutral K*(890) mesons is presented. The RICH is used to identify kaons in the Kpi final state. The Feynman-X (X_ {F}) distributions are compared to the predictions of the quark fusion and LUND fragmentation models of low P_{t} production.