Yield Extraction and Acceptance Studies for Λ Photoproduction off Deuteron

Experimental observables of hyperon photoproduction play an important role in the study of non-perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics. The E06-103 experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility used a tagged real photon beam incident on a liquid deuterium target to create a large set of polarization observables for lambda quasi-free and re-scattering photoproduction. These help address questions about baryon structure and quantify poorly-known parameters of the hyperon-nucleon interaction. For theoretical interpretation of the data, cross sections are also necessary, which requires estimates of reaction yields and detector acceptance. Here, we present our work for the γd → K⁺Λn reaction using E06-103 data taken with the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS). The final state was found by requesting the kaon, and the pion and proton from the lambda decay, be detected. Charged-particle identification was done using the time-of-flight technique. Reconstruction of the invariant mass of the pπ⁻ resulted in a clear Λ peak. The undetected neutron was identified via the missing-mass method. Detector acceptance was estimated using the CLAS GEANT-based simulation and the analysis created for the real data. In this presentation we will show our acceptance studies as well as preliminary results for acceptance-corrected yields, both in the quasi-free and the re-scattering kinematics. These can be used to determine the reaction cross section.