Study of the reactions K±p → K±(Δ++π−) at 8.25 GeV/c in the proton diffraction region

A comparison of the reactions K±p → K±(Δ++π−) at 8.25 GeV/c in the proton diffraction region is presented. The Δ++π− mass distributions, the decay angular distributions of the Δ++π− systems and two-dimensional (cos Θ, φ) plots in the s and t-channel systems are discussed in detail. No significant difference between K+ and K− distributions is observed for masses of the K±π− systems bigger than 1.6 GeV. The evidence for resonance interpretation of the low-mass Δ++π− enhancements is presented with an estimate of their production cross section. The contribution of the Deck type π-exchange in the diffraction-like production of the Δ++π− system is found to be comparable to the resonance production, while the contribution of baryon exchange Deck mechanism seems to be small.