Resonances and final state interactions in the reaction pp->pK^+Lambda

A study of the strangeness production reaction pp->pK^+Lambda for excess energies of epsilon \le 150 MeV, accessible at high-luminosity accelerator facilities like COSY, is presented. Methods to analyze the Dalitz plot distribution and angular spectra in the Jackson and helicity frames are worked out and suitable observables for extracting information on low lying resonances that couple to the K-Lambda system and for determining the Lambda-p effective-range parameters from the final state interaction are identified and discussed. Furthermore, the chances for identifying the reaction mechanism of strangeness production are investigated.