QCD ANALYSIS OF UNPOLARIZED AND POLARIZED LAMBDA-BARYON PRODUCTION INLEADING AND NEXT-TO-LEADING ORDER

We analyze experimental data for the production of Lambda baryons in e (+)e(-) annihilation in terms of scale-dependent, QCD-evolved, Lambda fragmentation functions. Apart from the vast majority of the data for which the polarization of an observed Lambda was not determined, we al so consider the recent CERN LEP measurements of the longitudinal polar ization of Lambda's produced on the Z resonance. Such data correspond to spin-dependent fragmentation functions for the Lambda. We point out that the present data are insufficient to satisfactorily fix these. W e therefore suggest several different sets of fragmentation functions, all compatible with present data, and study the prospects for conceiv able future semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering experiments to di scriminate between them. We provide the complete next-to-leading order QCD framework for all the processes we consider.