Double pion photoproduction off 40Ca

The photoproduction of π ⁰ π ⁰ and π ⁰ π ^± pairs off ⁴⁰Ca has been investigated with the TAPS detector using the Glasgow photon tagging spectrometer at the Mainz MAMI accelerator. Data have been taken for incident photon energies in the energy range from 200-820MeV. Total cross-sections have been extracted from threshold up to the maximum photon energy and invariant-mass distributions of the pion pairs have been obtained for incident photon energies between 400-500MeV and 500-550MeV. The double π ⁰ invariant-mass distributions show some relative enhancement with respect to the mixed charge channel at small invariant masses. The effects are smaller than previously observed for lead nuclei and the distributions do not significantly deviate from carbon data. The data are in good agreement with the results of recent calculations in the framework of the BUU model, with careful treatment of final-state interaction effects but without an explicit in-medium modification of scalar, iso-scalar pion pairs. This means that for Ca most of the experimentally observed effect can be explained by final-state interactions. Only at low incident photon energies there is still a small low mass enhancement of the double π ⁰ data over the BUU results.     

Analysis of the quadrupole deformation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Δ</Emphasis>(1232) within an effective Lagrangian model for pion photoproduction from the nucleon

We present an extraction of the E2/M1 ratio of the Δ(1232) from experimental data applying an effective Lagrangian model. We compare the result obtained with different nucleonic models and we reconcile the experimental results with the lattice QCD calculations.     

Search for narrow dibaryon resonances in neutral pion photoproduction from the deuteron

The reaction γd↦π⁰ X has been measured with TAPS at MAMI in the energy range E _γ = 140-300 MeV. Using the Glasgow tagging spectrometer a photon energy resolution of 0.8 MeV was achieved. The energy excitation functions of integral and differential total cross-sections show no structures of statistical significance > 2σ. Upper limits for the production of narrow isoscalar or isovector dibaryons with masses m? 2100 MeV/c² were deduced. They are in the range 2-5 μb averaged over the 0.8 MeV energy resolution. Received: 25 October 2000 / Accepted: 24 November 2000     

Meson photoproduction on the nucleon with polarized photons

Meson photoproduction with polarized photons has proved to be a powerful tool to identify contributions of baryon resonances that are not evident in the differential cross-sections. It provides information that are complementary to those extracted using pion-nucleon scattering data. Extensive results have been produced in the past on beam asymmetries by the Graal collaboration for η and π ⁰ on the proton. New results are now available for the same reactions on the quasi-free neutron and for the K⁺ photoproduction on the proton. Contributions from hitherto undetected baryon resonances may be important to understand the results.     

K0πand K*0Σ+ photoproduction off the proton

The exclusive reactions γp → K ^*0Σ⁺(1189) and γp → K ⁰π⁰Σ⁺(1189) , leading to the p 4π⁰ final state, have been measured with a tagged photon beam for incident energies from threshold up to 2.5GeV. The experiment has been performed at the tagged photon facility of the ELSA accelerator (Bonn). The Crystal Barrel and TAPS detectors were combined to a photon detector system of almost 4π geometrical acceptance. Differential and total cross-sections are reported. At energies close to the threshold, a flat angular distribution has been observed for the reaction γp → K ⁰π⁰Σ⁺ suggesting dominant s -channel production. Σ^*(1385) and higher-lying hyperon states have been observed. An enhancement in the forward direction in the angular distributions of the reaction γp → K ^*0Σ⁺ indicates a t -channel exchange contribution to the reaction mechanism. The experimental data are in reasonable agreement with recent theoretical predictions.     

Regge approach to charged pion photoproduction at invariant energies above 2 GeV

A Regge model with absorptive corrections is employed in a global analysis of the world data on positive and negative pion photoproduction for photon energies from 3 to 8GeV. In this region resonance contributions are expected to be negligible so that the available experimental information on differential cross-sections and single polarization observables at - t ⩽ 2 GeV^2 allows us to determine the non-resonant part of the reaction amplitude reliably. The model amplitude is then used to predict observables for photon energies below 3GeV. Differences between our predictions and data in this energy region are systematically examined as possible signals for the presence of excited baryons. We find that the data available for the polarized photon asymmetry show promising resonance signatures at invariant energies around 2GeV. With regard to differential cross-sections the analysis of negative pion photoproduction data, obtained recently at JLab, indicates likewise the presence of resonance structures around 2GeV.     

Backward pion photoproduction

We present a systematic analysis of backward pion photoproduction for the reactions p p and p n . Regge phenomenology is applied at invariant collision energies above 3GeV in order to fix the reaction amplitude. A comparision with older data on - and -photoproduction at = 180^° indicates that the high-energy limit as given by the Regge calculation could be reached possibly at energies of around ≃ 3 GeV. In the energy region of 2.5 GeV, covered by the new measurements of p p differential cross-sections at large angles at ELSA, JLab, and LEPS, we see no clear signal for a convergence towards the Regge results. The baryon trajectories obtained in our analysis are in good agreement with those given by the spectrum of excited baryons.     

Partial-wave decomposition of pion and photoproduction amplitudes

Partial-wave amplitudes for production and decay of baryon resonances are constructed in the framework of the operator expansion method. The approach is fully relativistically invariant and allows us to perform combined analyses of different reactions imposing directly analyticity and unitarity constraints. All formulas are given explicitly in the form used by the Crystal Barrel Collaboration in the (partly forthcoming) analyses of the electro-, photo- and pion-induced meson production data.     

Photoproduction of neutral pion pairs from the proton

Double neutral pion photoproduction from the proton has been measured at MAMI for photon energies between threshold and 820 MeV. The reaction was identified by an invariant mass and missing mass analysis. From threshold up to 370 MeV the total cross-section does not exceed 30 nb. For higher energies it shows a smooth rise until it reaches a maximum of about 10 μb at E _γ = 740 MeV. Dalitz plots of m ²(π⁰π⁰) versus m ²(p,π⁰) for seven bins of incident photon energy have been analysed. For E _γ > 610 MeV, a strong contribution of a sequential decay is observed with the Δ(1232)-resonance as intermediate state. A comparison to model calculations shows that these sequential decays presumably originate from the D ₁₃(1520) and also the P ₁₁(1440)-resonance. Received: 6 June 2000 / Accepted: 18 August 2000     

Neutral pion photoproduction at high energies

A Regge model with absorptive corrections is employed in a global analysis of the world data on the reactions p p and n n for photon energies from 3 to 18GeV. In this region resonance contributions are expected to be negligible so that the available experimental information on differential cross-sections and single and double polarization observables at - t 2 GeV²allows us to determine the reaction amplitude reliably. The model amplitude is then used to predict observables for photon energies below 3GeV. A detailed comparison with recent data from the CLAS and CB-ELSA Collaborations in that energy region is presented. Furthermore, the prospects for determining the radiative decay width via the Primakoff effect from the reaction p p are explored.     

Measurement of η photoproduction on the proton from threshold to 1500 MeV

Beam asymmetry and differential cross-section for the reaction γp → ηp were measured from production threshold to 1500MeV photon laboratory energy. The two dominant neutral decay modes of the η -meson, η → 2γ and η → 3π⁰ , were analyzed. The full set of measurements is in good agreement with previously published results. Our data were compared with three models. They all fit satisfactorily the results but their respective resonance contributions are quite different. The possible photoexcitation of a narrow state N(1670) was investigated and no evidence was found.     

Measurement of πphotoproduction on the proton from 550 to 1500 MeV at GRAAL

Neutral pion photoproduction has been measured from 550 to 1500 MeV with the GRAAL facility, located at the ESRF in Grenoble. Differential cross-section and beam asymmetry have been measured over a wide angular range. These high-precision data improve significantly the database for the beam asymmetry in the second and third resonance regions covering for the first time the energy domain 1100-1500 MeV. New partial-wave analyses including these data are presented for which the beam asymmetry brings crucial constraints.     

Dispersion theory and the low-energy constants for neutral-pion photoproduction

The relativistic amplitudes of pion photoproduction are evaluated by dispersion relations at t = const. The imaginary parts of the amplitudes are taken from the MAID model covering the absorption spectrum up to center-of-mass energies W = 2.2GeV. For sub-threshold kinematics the amplitudes are expanded in powers of the two independent variables ν and t related to energy and momentum transfer. Subtracting the loop corrections from this power series allows one to determine the counter terms of covariant baryon chiral perturbation theory. The proposed continuation of the amplitudes into the unphysical region provides a unique framework to derive the low-energy constants to any given order as well as an estimate of the higher-order terms by global properties of the absorption spectrum.     

Measurement of the G asymmetry for the γp↦Nπ channels in the Δ(1232) resonance region

The G asymmetry of the γp↦Nπ reaction has been measured for the first time for E_γ = 340±14 MeV. This observable, for which very scarce published data exist, plays an important role to disentangle the contributions of the various nucleon resonances. The experiment, performed at the Mainz microtron MAMI, used a 4π-detector system, a linearly polarized, tagged photon beam, and a longitudinally polarized proton target.     

Surface and volume effects in the photoabsorption of nuclei

Recent experimental results for meson photoproduction from nuclei obtained with TAPS at MAMI are analyzed in view of the suppression of the second nucleon resonance region in total photoabsorption. The cross-sections can be split into a component from the low-density surface region of nuclei and a component which scales more like the nuclear volume. The energy dependence of the surface component is similar to the deuteron cross-section, it shows a clear signal for the second resonance peak assigned to the excitation of the P₁₁(1440), D₁₃(1520), and S₁₁(1535). The volume component behaves differently, it is lacking the second resonance peak and shows an enhancement at intermediate photon energies.     

First measurement of the helicity dependence for the γp → pπreaction

The helicity dependence of the total cross-section and the invariant-mass distributions in the (pπ^±) and (π⁺π^-) final states for the γp → pπ⁺π^- reaction have been measured for the first time at incident photon energies from 400 to 800MeV. The measurement was performed with the large-acceptance detector DAPHNE at the tagged photon beam facility of the MAMI accelerator in Mainz. Although this channel is found to be predominantly excited by the intermediate production of a Δπ state, both the measured unpolarized and the helicity-dependent observables are generally not well described by the existing theoretical models.