STRANGE AND HEAVY QUARKS IN SOFT PROCESSES AT HIGH-ENERGIES - TOTAL CROSS-SECTIONS AND INCLUSIVE PRODUCTION

Within the language of quark-gluon and Reggeon exchanges it is possible to relate the total cross section and the production suppression parameter for particles with different flavors to the masses of dressed quarks. We calculated the quenching of the suppression parameter in the soft region due to the cascade decay of highly excited qq» states. The relative production probabilities for S-wave hadrons (mesons with JP=0-,1- and baryons with Jp=1/2+,3/2+) and P-wave hadrons (mesons with JP=0+,1+,2+ and baryons with JP=1/2-,3/2-,5/2-) are also estimated. Predictions for heavy-flavor production (c,b,t) at superhigh energies are made. © 1990 The American Physical Society.