K−pElastic Scattering from 700 to 1400 MeV/c

Differential cross sections for elastic $K^{-}p$ scattering have been measured at incident-kaon momenta from 700 to 1400 MeV/c. A total of 17 000 elastic events were observed with narrow-gap cylindrical and parallel-plate spark chambers. Least-squares fits of Legendre-polynomial power series to the differential cross sections require fifth-order terms in the region of the suggested 1765- and 1815-MeV resonances. Sixth-order coefficients are not required. The behavior of the coefficients requires a highly elastic resonance near 1815 MeV and is consistent with the existence of an additional rather inelastic resonance near 1765 MeV. The total cross section and the total elastic cross section have been fitted with constant background and one or more Breit-Wigner resonance terms, and a qualitative analysis of the Legendre-polynomial coefficients has been made. The data favor a $J=\frac{5}{2}$ assignment for the 1815-MeV resonance, although a very elastic $J=\frac{3}{2}$ resonance cannot be completely excluded.