Quasifree photoproduction of eta mesons off the neutron

Quasifree photoproduction of eta mesons off nucleons bound in the deuteron has been measured with the CBELSA/TAPS detector for incident photon energies up to 2.5 GeV at the Bonn ELSA accelerator. The eta mesons have been detected in coincidence with recoil protons and recoil neutrons, which allows a detailed comparison of the quasifree n(gamma,eta)n and p(gamma,eta)p reactions. The excitation function for eta production off the neutron shows a pronounced bumplike structure at W=1.68 GeV (E{gamma} approximately 1 GeV), which is absent for the proton.     

Quasifree pion photoproduction on the deuteron in the Δ region

Photo production of pions on the deuteron is studied in the spectator nucleon model. The Born terms of the elementary production amplitude are determined in pseu-dovector πN coupling and supplied with a form factor. The Δ resonance is considered both in the s and the u channel. The parameters of the Δ resonance and the cutoff of the form factors are fixed on the leading photoproduction multipoles. Results for total and differential cross sections are compared with experimental data. Particular attention is paid to the role of Pauli correlations of the final state nucleons in the quasifree case. The results are compared with those for pion photoproduction on the nucleon.     

Photoproduction of mesons off nuclei

Recent results for the photoproduction of mesons off nuclei are reviewed. These experiments have been performed for two major lines of research related to the properties of the strong interaction. The investigation of nucleon resonances requires light nuclei as targets for the extraction of the isospin composition of the electromagnetic excitations. This is done with quasi-free meson photoproduction off the bound neutron and supplemented with the measurement of coherent photoproduction reactions, serving as spin and/or isospin filters. Furthermore, photoproduction from light and heavy nuclei is a very efficient tool for the study of the interactions of mesons with nuclear matter and the in-medium properties of hadrons. Experiments are currently rapidly developing due to the combination of high quality tagged (and polarized) photon beams with state-of-the-art 4π detectors and polarized targets.     

Suppression of soft nuclear bremsstrahlung in proton-nucleus collisions

Photon energy spectra up to the kinematic limit have been measured in 190 MeV proton reactions with light and heavy nuclei to investigate the influence of the multiple-scattering process on the photon production. Relative to the predictions of models based on a quasifree production mechanism, a strong suppression of bremsstrahlung is observed in the low-energy region of the photon spectrum. We attribute this effect to the interference of photon amplitudes due to multiple scattering of nucleons in the nuclear medium.     

Threshold π0 photoproduction from the Skyrmion

The Skyrme model for nucleons is used to calculate threshold π⁰ photoproduction off a proton. It was found that the anomalous part of the electromagnetic current yields an important contribution to the photoproduction amplitude, roughly of the same magnitude normally ascribed to ω meson exchange. Agreement with the experimental threshold cross section can thus be achieved without invoking ω exchange.     

Quasifree pion photoproduction on the deuteron in the Δ region

Photo production of pions on the deuteron is studied in the spectator nucleon model. The Born terms of the elementary production amplitude are determined in pseudovectorπN coupling and supplied with a form factor. TheΔ resonance is considered both in thes and theu channel. The parameters of theΔ resonance and the cutoff of the form factors are fixed on the leading photoproduction multipoles. Results for total and differential cross sections are compared with experimental data. Particular attention is paid to the role of Pauli correlations of the final state nucleons in the quasifree case. The results are compared with those for pion photoproduction on the nucleon.     

Measurement of \Sigma beam asymmetry in \pi^{0}_{} photoproduction off the neutron in the second and third resonances region⋆

The $ \Sigma$ beam asymmetry in the photoproduction of neutral pions from quasi-free nucleons in a deuteron target was measured for the first time between 0.60 and 1.50GeV, with the GRAAL polarized and tagged photon beam. The asymmetry values from the quasi-free proton were found equal to the ones extracted from a pure proton target. The asymmetries from quasi-free proton and quasi-free neutron were found equal up to 0.82GeV and substantially different at higher energies. The results are compared with recent partial-wave analyses.     

New experimental and simulated results on nuclear media effects in meson photoproduction off nuclei

New experimental approach to study meson photoproduction in nuclei is discussed. It is based on the measurement of the recoil nucleon as a tagger for identification of the initial step of reaction. Propagation of mesons and nucleons within a nucleus is described by the Intra-Nuclear Cascade (INC) model. Simulations and preliminary experimental data for the deuteron target obtained at GRAAL are presented.     

Photon-induced reactions

An overview over the experimental research programs with photon beams is given with the focus on the electromagnetic excitation of the nucleon and the subsequent decay via mesons. Photoproduction of mesons on the free proton and on nucleons embedded in nuclei up to 1 GeV incident-photon energy are discussed.Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 13.60.Le Meson production - 13.60.Rj Baryon production - 14.20.Gk Baryon resonances with S = 0 - 25.20.Lj Photoproduction reactions     

Coulomb coupling, gauge invariance and the Regge theory of photoproduction

The special nature of the Coulomb coupling of a charged particle suggests that non-analytic terms are present in the Regge theory of photoproduction. This provides a natural explanation of the sharp forward peaks observed in charged pion photoproduction off nucleons. A high energy theorem for the forward photoproduction of pseudoscalar mesons follows.     

The total photon deuteron hadronic cross section in the energy range 0.265–4.215 GeV

The total cross section for photoproduction of hadrons on the deutron, σ_T^d, has been measured for photon energies in the range 0.265–40215 GeV. From this, using results for the photon total cross section, obtained previously with the same apparatus, the neutron total cross section has been determined in the resonance region. The resonant structure is found to be quite different from that for the proton. Thereafter the neutron cross section falls off steadily with energy, and the values obtained are consistently lower than those for the proton. Forward scattering amplitudes have been evaluated for the deuteron.     

Measurement of the tensor analyzing power components in the coherent photoproduction of a π 0 meson on a deuteron

The components of the tensor analyzing powers, T ₂₀, T ₂₁, and T ₂₂, of the coherent photoproduction of a π₀ meson on a deuteron have been measured for photon energies of 250–450 MeV and pion emission angles of 90°–145°. The results are compared with the theoretical predictions.     

Intra-Nuclear Cascade (INC) code for simulation of meson photoproduction in nuclei

η meson photoproduction in the ¹⁴N nucleus was studied using simulations done with INC (Intra-Nuclear Cascade) code. The probability for mesons and nucleons to escape the nucleus on different steps of the reaction was evaluated. These results predict the possibility of studying elastic and inelastic η meson interactions with intra-nuclear nucleons using the recoil proton as a tag for the case of slow η meson and fast recoil proton.     

In-medium spectral functions of charmonia studied by ¯p + A reactions<Superscript>a</Superscript>

We study the perspectives of resonant charmonium production in ˉp + A reactions within the Multiple Scattering Monte Carlo (MSMC) approach. We calculate the production of the resonances Ψ(2S) and Ψ(3770) on various nuclei, their propagation and decay to dileptons and D + ˉD in the medium and vacuum, respectively, employing parametrizations for the D,ˉD self-energies taken from QCD sum rule studies. The elastic and inelastic interactions of the charmonia and open-charm mesons in the medium are taken into account, too. It is found that the D,ˉD invariant-mass spectra from light and heavy nuclei are not sufficiently sensitive to the in-medium properties of the Ψ(2S) and Ψ(3770). However, a “suppression” of low-mass dileptons from the Ψ(3770) might be seen experimentally as well as a small broadening of the Ψ(2S) dilepton spectra. Received: 19 December 2002 / Accepted: 28 February 2003 / Published online: 5 June 2003     

Search for new and an investigation of known resonances using experimental data on photoproduction of η and η′ mesons on nucleons

The dynamical model of photoproduction of pseudoscalar mesons on nucleons constructed earlier is used for more accurate determination of the properties of known resonances. The new, “missing,” resonances are sought using modern precise experimental data on photoproduction of η and η′ mesons on nucleons.     

Photoproduction of πmesons from nuclei

Photoproduction of neutral pions from nuclei (carbon, calcium, niobium, lead) has been studied for incident-photon energies from 200 MeV to 800 MeV with the TAPS detector using the Glasgow photon tagging spectrometer at the Mainz MAMI accelerator. Data were obtained for the inclusive photoproduction of neutral pions and the partial channels of quasifree single- , double- , and photoproduction. They have been analyzed in terms of the in-medium behavior of nucleon resonances and the pion-nucleus interaction. They are compared to earlier measurements from the deuteron and to the predictions of a Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) transport model for photon-induced pion production from nuclei.PACS: 13.60.Le Meson production - 25.20.Lj Photoproduction reactions     

Tensor observables in electro- and photoreactions on the deuteron

The study of polarization effects in reactions with a simplest nucleus, deuteron, plays an important role for the investigation of deuteron structure as well as for the research of the properties of the strong interaction. However, data on the tensor observables in the electro- and photoreactions with deuteron appeared not so long ago. We present here a brief overview of the experiments on three such reactions with a deuteron: elastic scattering, photodisintegration and coherent photoproduction of the neutral pion.