INVESTIGATION OF THE OZI SELECTION RULE FOR CONNECTED QUARK DIAGRAMS IN HADRONIC PROCESSES .1. OZI-SUPPRESSED CHARGE-EXCHANGE REACTION PI(-)-]PHI+N AT AN INCIDENT PION MOMENTUM OF 32.5 GEV(P)C/

The charge-exchange reaction pi(-) + p --> phi + n at incident momentu m p(pi-) = 32.5 GeV/c is investigated in experiments with the LEPTON-F detector. Its cross section is found to be sigma(pi(-) + p --> phi n)\(32.5 Gev/e) = 11.5 +/- 3.3 nb. The ratio between the cross section s for the OZI-suppressed and OZI-allowed charge-exchange transitions i nvolving the production of vector mesons is estimated as R(phi/omega) = sigma(pi(-) + p --> phi + n)/sigma(pi(-) + p --> omega + n) = (0.29 +/- 0.09) x 10(-2). For the mixing angle of the vector-meson nonet, th ese results yield \alpha(V)\ = \theta(V) - theta(0)\ = 3.1 degrees +/- 0.5 degrees, in agreement with existing data.