Study of inclusive baryon-antibaryon pair production of p or Λ in two-photon processes

Inclusive baryon-antibaryon pair production was studied in two-photon events which were collected at the e ⁺ e ^- collider TRISTAN, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 303 pb^-1. Correlations between a baryon and an antibaryon were studied for their flavors (p or Λ) and their momentum vectors. The experimental results were compared with the expectations from a jet-fragmentation Monte Carlo simulation. We have found that although the ratios of the cross sections of different baryon-flavor combinations are consistent with the Monte Carlo expectations, the cross section shows an excess over the Monte Carlo expectation in a low invariant-mass region of final-state particles at large angles, that indicates a significant contribution from higher-order QCD or non-perturbative effects. The experimental data show no narrow azimuthal-angle correlation, which is expected from a jet-fragmentation Monte Carlo. A search for exclusive Λ pair production has also been made. We have no candidates and have obtained the upper limit for the cross section.