Observation of a baryon exchange dip and parton effects in backward photoproduction of ω

A measurement of backward photoproduction of omega mesons on protons is reported. Data are presented which show a dip in the differential cross section at u = ?0.15 (GeV/c)² and an s dependence which varies strongly with u. The s dependence suggests an incoherent sum of a Regge and a parton term and differential cross sections for the two components are presented.     

Hypernuclear photoproduction

Calculations of the nuclear (γ, K⁺) reaction employing full Coulomb and optical distortions and a complete photoproduction vertex are reported. Hypernuclear excitations other than spin-flip modes are found to be significantly excited and distortion effects are found to strongly alter the magnitude of the cross sections.     

Elastic and inelastic φ photoproduction

The differential cross section of the reaction (γp → pφ) has been measured in the t range 0 ? t ? 0.4 GeV² and for photon energies from 3.0 to 6.7 GeV. In particular for the small t region the measurement accuracy was better than 10%. We obtained for the slope parameter B in an exponential parametrization of the differential cross section dσ/dt = Ae^?Bt values of $\text{B ? 6 ± 0.5}\text{GeV}{}^{\mathrm{?2}}$ which are significantly larger than the slopes obtained by most other experiments at higher t values. This indicates a t dependence of B particularly in the small t region.An energy dependence of the optical point (dσ/dt)_t=0, observed in our measurements, has been explained as a kinematic effect due to the VDM relation. A fit of our measurements is in excellent agreement with all other published values of (dσ/dt)_t=0(γp → φp), this implies that σ_tot(φp) must be essentially energy independent in this energy range.Spin density matrix elements of the φ have been evaluated and an analysis of the helicity amplitudes has been carried out. This analysis confirmed s-channel helicity conservation. Moments of spherical harmonics of the $\text{K}\text{K}$ angular decay distribution have been computed for 10 MeV $\text{K}\text{K}$ mass-bins from threshold to 1.3 GeV. The mass dependence of the normalized moments is generally smooth. Contributing amplitudes have essentially only even moments. The moment 〈Y₂⁰〉/〈Y₀⁰〉 changes sign above the φ mass.Differential cross sections for the inelastic φ production γp → φX have been evaluated for the first time both with respect to t?t_min and M_K. The integrated inelastic cross sections are comparable in size with the elastic ones. The slopes of the differential cross sections dσ/dt appear to become flatter with increasing M_X.     

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.     

Vector meson dominance and photoproduction

A brief review of the basic principles of the vector meson dominance model is given. The model is then compared with most recently obtained experimental results. It is stressed that it provides a simple and unified interpretation of photoproduction of hadrons at high energies.     

Quantum chromodynamics and charm photoproduction

It is shown that charm photoproduction can be consistently described within an asymptotically free field theory. Quantum chromodynamics is used to derive sum rules for the total cross section σ_c^γ which includes both production of mesons with hidden charm (J/ψ, ψ′ and so on) and of charmed particles (pairs $\text{D}\text{D}$, $\text{F}\text{F}$ and so on). An estimate of σ_c^γ as a function of energy is given and fast growth is discovered up to energies ～ 1000 GeV. In this energy range σ_c^γ turns out to be equal to several μb. It is argued that measurements of charm photoproduction would give the most direct information on the gluon distribution within a nucleon. All the results are generalized to production of heavier particles containing new quarks. In particular, a simple rescaling law is derived connecting the cross sections for charm and beauty.     

Meson distributions in photoproduction

Extension of the nova model is applied to γ + p → π + anything. The concept of a photon is motivated from vector dominance, and the parameters describing the production of photon novas are estimated from hadron results. The model is essentially without arbitrary parameters. We compare with inclusive and exclusive data at 9.3 GeV/c, where we find excellent agreement. Predictions for 20 GeV/c are also presented.     

Diffractive photoproduction: Omegaprimes and glueballs

It is demonstrated that diffractive photoproduction ofJ ^P =1^? isoscalar states completely violates conventional ideas of vector meson dominance. It is shown that this can be due to processes involving a gluonic system, which can be either a continuum or, possibly, a 3-gluon glueball. In the latter case it is necessarily mixed with several \(q\bar q\) states.     

Polarization in hypernuclear photoproduction

The polarization of hypernuclei is expressed in terms of amplitudes derived phenomenologically from elementary p(γ, K⁺) Λ experimental data. For appreciably populated states in light hypernuclei, polarization may reach some 50%. This makes photoproduction a suitable tool for studying polarization and related hypernuclear phenomena, complementing the (π⁺, K⁺) reaction.     

Charm photoproduction via fragmentation

The next-to-leading open charm production inγp collisions is calculated within the perturbative fragmentation functions formalism, to allow resummation ofα _slog(p _T ² /m ²) terms. In the largeP _T region (p _T>m) the result is consistent with the fixed order NLO calculation, small discrepancies being found for very largep _T and at the edge of phase space. The two approaches differ in the definition and the relative contribution of the direct and resolved terms, but essentially agree on their sum. The resummation is found to lead to a reduced sensitivity to the choice of the renormalization/factorization scale.     

Pion and eta photoproduction in nuclei

We calculate the quasifree photoproduction of pions and eta mesons on nuclei from¹²C to²⁰⁸Pb. Assuming that for the quasifree process the cross sections forπ/η photoproduction on a nucleon in medium are — besides a lowering due to Pauli blocking — identical to those on a free nucleon, we use these as an input. The produced mesons or resonances then propagate through the nucleus where they can undergo several scattering and absorption processes. This final state interaction, which leads to a lowering of the initial meson yield up to 70%, we simulate in a coupled channel Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck transport model. It allows us to study in detail the influence of Fermi motion, Pauli blocking and of the additional decay channels for nucleon resonances in medium on the photoproduction cross section. The calculated total and differential cross sections are compared to experimental data and the influence of the different medium effects on the cross sections is discussed in detail.     

Double-pion photoproduction from nuclei

Differences in the photoproduction of mesons on the free proton and on nuclei are expected to reveal changes in the properties of hadrons. Inclusive studies of nuclear photoabsorption have provided evidence of medium modifications. However, the results have not been explained in a model independent way. A deeper understanding of the situation is anticipated from a detailed experimental study of meson photoproduction from nuclei in exclusive reactions. In the energy regime above the Δ(1232) resonance, the dominant double-pion production channels are of particular interest. Double-pion photoproduction from nuclei is also used to investigate the in-medium modification of meson-meson interactions.     

Single meson photoproduction and IR renormalons

Single pseudoscalar and vector mesons hard semi-inclusive photoproductionγh → MX via higher twist mechanism is calculated using the QCD running coupling constant method. It is proved that in the context of this method a higher twist contribution to the photoproduction cross section cannot be normalized in terms of the meson electromagnetic form factor. The structure of infrared renormalon singularities of the higher twist subprocess cross section and the resummed expression (the Borel sum) for it are found. Comparisons are made with earlier results, as well as with leading twist cross section. Phenomenological effects of studied contributions for π,K,?-meson photoproduction are discussed.     

Charge asymmetry in charmed-meson photoproduction

Within the perturbative-recombination model, the charge asymmetries in the D* ⁺–D* ^?, D* ⁰–D* ⁰, and D ⁺ _s –D ^? _s yields are estimated under the kinematical conditions of the COMPASS experiment. Corrections that arise owing to the mass of a light quark in a charmed meson are taken into account. The yield of D ⁺ _s meaons is predicted to be large in relation to the yield of D ^? _s mesons.