MEASUREMENT OF THE ω MESON POLARIZATION IN THE pd → 3He ω REACTION AT 1360 AND 1450 MeV

The tensor polarization of ω mesons produced in the pd → 3 He ω reaction has been measured at two energies near threshold. The 3 He nuclei were detected in coincidence with the π0π+π- or π0γ decay products of the ω. The ω mesons are found to be unpolarised, which is in complete contrast to the case of ϕ-meson production from the corresponding reaction pd → 3 He ϕ. This brings into question the applicability of the Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka rule when comparing the production of vector mesons in low energy hadronic reactions.