RECENT RESULTS ON MESON PRODUCTION FROM SAPHIR∗

The SAPHIR detector is a magnetic spectrometer for multiparticle final states attached to the 3.5 GeV electron accelerator ELSA. The experiments focus on the photoproduction of associated strangeness in gamma p --> K(+)Lambda, K(+)Sigma(0) and K(0)Sigma(+) final states and the production of the lightest vector mesons rho, omega and phi. In the K(+)Lambda cross section a steep threshold behaviour is observed which is different in the case of K(+)Sigma(0) which is reflected in the differential cross section. Contrary, Lambda and Sigma polarizations show little variation with energy. A bump in the t-distribution for omega-production for E gamma similar or equal to 1.5 GeV could be an indication for a resonance while the production of phi-mesons appears fully diffractive down to energies below 2 GeV.