THE PD-](H-LAMBDA-K-H-3 REACTION CROSS-SECTION())

The one- and two-step mechanisms of the pd --> (HLambdaK+)-H-3 reactio n in the range of incident proton kinetic energy T-p = 1.13-3.0 GeV ha ve been investigated for the first time. A remarkable peculiarity of t he two-step mechanism which incorporates subprocesses pp --> d pi(+) a nd pi(+)n --> K(+)Lambda is the so-called velocity matching providing the presence of all intermediate particles nearly to the on-mass-shell . The differential cross section has been calculated using a realistic model for the hypertritium H-3(Lambda) wavefunction. The maximum valu e of the cross section is estimated as similar to 1 nb sr(-1). The con tribution of the one-step mechanism with the elementary process pN --> NK Lambda to the cross section has been found to be two to three orde rs of magnitude smaller in comparison with the two-step mechanism.