phi K+K- production in electron-positron annihilation

Abstract

In this work we study the e(+)e(-)->phi K+K- reaction. The leading order electromagnetic contributions to this process involve the gamma(*)phi K+K- vertex function with a highly virtual photon. We calculate this function at low energies using R chi PT supplemented with the anomalous term for the (VVP)-P-' interactions. Tree-level contributions involve the kaon form factors and the (KK)-K-* transition form factors. We improve this result, valid for low photon virtualities, replacing the lowest order terms in the kaon form factors and (KK)-K-* transition form factors by the form factors as obtained in U chi PT in the former case and the ones extracted from recent data on e(+)e(-)-> KK* in the latter case. We calculate rescattering effects which involve meson-meson amplitudes. The corresponding result is improved using the unitarized meson-meson amplitudes containing the scalar poles instead of the lowest order terms. Using the BABAR value for BR(X ->phi f(0))Gamma(X -> e(+)e(-)), we calculate the contribution from intermediate X(2175). A good description of data is obtained in the case of destructive interference between this contribution and the previous ones, but more accurate data on the isovector (KK)-K-* transition form factor is required in order to exclude contributions from an intermediate isovector resonance to e(+)e(-)->phi K+K- around 2.2 GeV.