Production of K+K− pairs in proton-proton collisions below the φ meson threshold

Production of K+K− pairs in proton-proton collisions below the φ meson threshold Q. J. Ye,1,2,* M. Hartmann,2,† D. Chiladze,2,3 S. Dymov,4,5 A. Dzyuba,6 H. Gao,1 R. Gebel,2 V. Hejny,2 A. Kacharava,2 B. Lorentz,2 D. Mchedlishvili,2,3 S. Merzliakov,2,5 M. Mielke,7 S. Mikirtytchiants,2,6 H. Ohm,2 M. Papenbrock,7 A. Polyanskiy,2,8 V. Serdyuk,2,5 H. J. Stein,2 H. Ströher,2 S. Trusov,9,10 Yu. Valdau,2,11 C. Wilkin,12 and P. Wüstner13 1Department of Physics and Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA 2Institut für Kernphysik and Jülich Centre for Hadron Physics, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany 3High Energy Physics Institute, Tbilisi State University, GE-0186 Tbilisi, Georgia 4Physikalisches Institut, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany 5Laboratory of Nuclear Problems, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, RU-141980 Dubna, Russia 6High Energy Physics Department, Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, RU-188350 Gatchina, Russia 7Institut für Kernphysik, Universität Münster, D-48149 Münster, Germany 8Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics, RU-117218 Moscow, Russia 9Institut für Kernund Hadronenphysik, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, D-01314 Dresden, Germany 10Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, RU-119991 Moscow, Russia 11Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlenund Kernphysik, Universität Bonn, D-53115 Bonn, Germany 12Physics and Astronomy Department, UCL, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom 13Zentralinstitut für Elektronik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany (Received 28 February 2013; published 12 June 2013)