Shape distortions of meson resonances produced in hadron interactions at P≧2 GeV/c.

We study the shape of the invariant mass spectra of several resonances produced at P≧2.0 GeV/c and observed through two-particle final states, namely the f(1270), K(892), $$\bar K*(892)$$ , K(1430), and $$\bar K*(1430)$$ mesons. The data sample comes from π Be interactions at P=150 GeV/c and 300 GeV/c which have been collected using the OMEGA spectrometer at CERN. We find that although these meson resonances have their masses and widths consistent with the corresponding world average values, their shapes are all subject to the same kind of distortion: their low-mass tail is enhanced while their high-mass tail is sharply cut. This observation indicates that meson resonances produced in the fragmentation of quarks and gluons are distorted by the same damping factor in a way which preserves their masses and lifetimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]