We report on the measurement of the beam asymmetry $\Sigma$ for the reactions $\vec{\gamma}p\rightarrow p\eta$ and $\vec{\gamma}p \rightarrow p\eta^{\prime}$ from the GlueX experiment, using an 8.2--8.8 GeV linearly polarized tagged photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target in Hall D at Jefferson Lab. These measurements are made as a function of momentum transfer $-t$, with significantly higher statistical precision than our earlier $\eta$ measurements, and are the first measurements of $\eta^{\prime}$ in this energy range. We compare the results to theoretical predictions based on $t$--channel quasi-particle exchange. We also compare the ratio of $\Sigma_{\eta}$ to $\Sigma_{\eta^{\prime}}$ to these models, as this ratio is predicted to be sensitive to the amount of $s\bar{s}$ exchange in the production. We find that photoproduction of both $\eta$ and $\eta^{\prime}$ is dominated by natural parity exchange with little dependence on $-t$.
Values and errors for the photon beam asymmetry $\Sigma_{\eta}$ for the reaction $\gamma p \rightarrow \eta p$ with $\eta\rightarrow\gamma\gamma$. For the binning in $t$, we report the range of the data, the event-weighted mean of all $t$ values, and the RMS of that distribution. For $\Sigma_{\eta}$, we report the value, statistical error, and systematic error. The total error is the sum of the previous two in quadrature. Not reported here is the $2.1\%$ relative uncertainty due to the determination of the polarization of the photon beam.
Values and errors for the photon beam asymmetry $\Sigma_{\eta\prime}$ for the reaction $\gamma p \rightarrow \eta^{\prime} p$ with $\eta^{\prime}\rightarrow \eta\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$ and the $\eta\rightarrow\gamma\gamma$. For the binning in $t$, we report the range of the data, the event-weighted mean of all $t$ values, and the RMS of that distribution. For $\Sigma_{\eta\prime}$, we report the value, statistical error, and systematic error. The total error is the sum of the previous two in quadrature. Not reported here is the $2.1\%$ relative uncertainty due to the determination of the polarization of the photon beam.
Values and errors for the ratio of photon beam asymmetries $\Sigma_{\eta\prime}/\Sigma_{\eta}$ for the reported reactions. To form the ratio, the $\eta$ analysis is done with the same binning in $t$ as the $\eta^\prime$ analysis, and for each bin we report the range of the data, the event-weighted mean of all $t$ values, and the RMS of that distribution. For $\Sigma_{\eta\prime}/\Sigma_{\eta}$, we report the value, statistical error, and systematic error. The total error is the sum of the previous two in quadrature.}
We report measurements of the photon beam asymmetry $\Sigma$ for the reactions $\vec{\gamma}p\to p\pi^0$ and $\vec{\gamma}p\to p\eta $ from the GlueX experiment using a 9 GeV linearly-polarized, tagged photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target in Jefferson Lab's Hall D. The asymmetries, measured as a function of the proton momentum transfer, possess greater precision than previous $\pi^0$ measurements and are the first $\eta$ measurements in this energy regime. The results are compared with theoretical predictions based on $t$-channel, quasi-particle exchange and constrain the axial-vector component of the neutral meson production mechanism in these models.
Measurement of the beam asymmetry $\Sigma$ for $\pi^0$ photoproduction on the proton at $E_\gamma = 9$ GeV. The uncorrelated systematic errors (syst) are given in the table below along with a correlated normalization uncertainty (norm) of 3.6% due to the beam polarization.
Measurement of the beam asymmetry $\Sigma$ for $\eta$ photoproduction on the proton at $E_\gamma = 9$ GeV. The uncorrelated systematic errors (syst) are given in the table below along with a correlated normalization uncertainty (norm) of 3.6% due to the beam polarization.
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