Proton Compton effect in the Δ(1232) energy region

The proton Compton effectγ+p→γ+p in theΔ (1232) energy region has been thoroughly studied. At the Bonn 500 MeV synchrotron differential cross sections were measured covering a large range of the CM scattering angle (50°≦θ_γ≦130°) and an energy range from 240 to 440 MeV (LAB energy of the primary photon). A contribution to the counting rate from the competing process ofπ ⁰ photoproduction was strongly suppressed by detecting both particles in the final state and by a proper choice of the endpoint energy of the gamma ray beam. The remaining contribution was monitored experimentally. The measured data were complemented by cross sections at 0° which were computed from the totalγ p cross sections with an input from a multipole analysis of single pion photoproduction. Preliminary results of this experiment have been published in Lett. Nuovo Cimento. In the meantime the experimental data were reanalyzed. The final data presented here are larger than the preliminary ones by about 15%.