  The first measurements of the transferred polarization for the exclusive ep
--> e'K+ Lambda reaction have been performed in Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson
National Accelerator Facility using the CLAS spectrometer. A 2.567 GeV electron
beam was used to measure the hyperon polarization over a range of Q2 from 0.3
to 1.5 (GeV/c)2, W from 1.6 to 2.15 GeV, and over the full center-of-mass
angular range of the K+ meson. Comparison with predictions of hadrodynamic
models indicates strong sensitivity to the underlying resonance contributions.
A non-relativistic quark model interpretation of our data suggests that the
s-sbar quark pair is produced with spins predominantly anti-aligned.
Implications for the validity of the widely used 3P0 quark-pair creation
operator are discussed.
