Omega Meson Production at High Transverse Momentum by Negative 515 Gev/c Pions Incident on Beryllium and Copper Targets.

The inclusive cross section for omega (783) meson production by 515 GeV/c pi ^- beam incident on Be and Cu targets has been measured as a function of transverse momentum (p _{T}). The data were collected during the 1990 run of experiment E706 at Fermilab. The E706 trigger selected events containing high p _{T} electromagnetic showers detected in a finely segmented lead liquid argon calorimeter. The omega mesons were reconstructed in the neutral decay mode omega to pi ^0 gamma. Results are reported averaged over the center of mass rapidity interval -0.5<y<0.75, and in the transverse momentum range from 3.5 to 8 GeV/c. The omega {rm to} pi ^0 production ratio was measured and used to obtain the ratio of vector to pseudoscalar mesons directly produced in the fragmentation process. Measurements are compared with HERWIG 5.7 Monte Carlo results, and with data from other experiments. The nuclear dependence of omega meson production is also discussed.