KAON PHOTOPRODUCTION IN THE COLOR-DIELECTRIC MODEL

The kaon photoproduction process gamma p-->K(+)Lambda is studied in a momentum-projected color dielectric quark model. In contrast to phenom enological analyses, only a few Feynman diagrams are used, yet the dia grams include form factors derived from quark wave functions. The pred icted cross sections are close to experiment. The unitarization of the Born diagrams, which effectively includes the K Lambda final-state in teraction, is found to be important in the prediction of the Lambda po larization. It is concluded that only a small number of graphs is need ed to explain the basic physics as long as a realistic model of the ba ryon structure and final-state interactions are included.