Production of $K^{+}$ Mesons in 2.85- and 2.40-BeV $p-p$ Collisions

We report an experimental measurements of $K^{+}$-meson production in $p-p$ collisions at 2.85 and 2.40 BeV. The momentum spectra of the $K^{+}$ mesons are given at the three laboratory angles of 0°, 17°, and 32°. The $K^{+}$ mesons were identified by momentum and velocity using differential Čerenkov counters with a combined rejection of the order of ${10}^{-6\mathrm{}}$. It is shown that the production spectra can be accounted for by a one-meson-exchange mechanism with the introduction of appropriate cutoffs. At the high-energy limit of the 0° spectrum, a clear peak is observed, which is attributed to the low-energy $\Lambda -p$ interaction in the $K\Lambda p$ final state. No other enhancements or pronounced effects due to resonances either in the $\mathrm{Yp}$ or $\mathrm{KY}$ system are observed.