Differential and total cross sections for the quasifree reactions $\gamma p\rightarrow\eta p$ and $\gamma n\rightarrow\eta n$ have been determined at the MAMI-C electron accelerator using a liquid deuterium target. Photons were produced via bremsstrahlung from the 1.5 GeV incident electron beam and energy-tagged with the Glasgow photon tagger. Decay photons of the neutral decay modes $\eta\rightarrow 2\gamma$ and $\eta\rightarrow 3\pi^0 \rightarrow 6\gamma$ and coincident recoil nucleons were detected in a combined setup of the Crystal Ball and the TAPS calorimeters. The $\eta$-production cross sections were measured in coincidence with recoil protons, recoil neutrons, and in an inclusive mode without a condition on recoil nucleons, which allowed a check of the internal consistency of the data. The effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the final-state invariant mass and possible nuclear effects on the quasifree cross section were investigated by a comparison of free and quasifree proton data. The results, which represent a significant improvement in statistical quality compared to previous measurements, agree with the known neutron-to-proton cross-section ratio in the peak of the $S_{11}(1535)$ resonance and confirm a peak in the neutron cross section, which is absent for the proton, at a center-of-mass energy $W = (1670\pm 5)$ MeV with an intrinsic width of $\Gamma\approx 30$ MeV.
Total cross section as a function of c.m. energy W.
Total cross section as a function of c.m. energy W.
Differential cross section at W= 1.4925 GeV
Using non-tagged bremsstrahlung produced by a 130 MeV–20 μA c.w. electron beam of MAMI A quasi-free Compton scattering by the neutron was investigated via the 2 H( γ , γ 'n) 1 H reaction for lab scattering angles of θ γ = 90° and 135°. The energy spectrum and angular distribution of recoiling neutrons were measured via time of flight and a plastic-scintillator hodoscope, respectively. Double-differential cross sections for quasi-free scattering by the neutron were determined on an absolute scale by normalizing to the Compton cross section of the proton. By comparing the experimental double-differential cross sections with predictions the electric polarizability of the neutron was determined, leading to α n = (10.7 −10.7 +3.3 ) × 10 −4 fm 3 . Thus, the upper limit of α n is further reduced as compared to our previous result, but the lower limit is still consistent with zero.
No description provided.