Exclusive photoproduction cross sections have been measured for the processes γp→π+n, γp→π0p, γp→π−Δ++, γp→ρ0p, γp→K+Λ, and γp→K+Σ0 at large t and u values at several energies for each process between 4 and 7.5 GeV. These measurements taken together with past data taken at small values of t and u provide complete angular distributions. The data show the usual small t and u peaks and a central region in which the cross section decreases approximately as s−7. The results are discussed within the context of parton or constituent models.

Measurements on large-angle photoproduction of π+ mesons from hydrogen have been made at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center for photon energies between 5 and 15.5 GeV and u values from +0.05 to -1.8 (GeV/c)2. The measured cross section decreased with energy approximately as k−3, showing no shrinkage in this range of u values. Furthermore, it had a smooth u dependence with no sign of a dip at u≃−0.15 (GeV/c)2 as would be expected from nucleon exchange. π−Δ++ production was measured at 5 GeV and shows a rapid decrease with increasing |u|.

We have measured the asymmetry of the cross section for γp→π+n from a polarized target at 5 and 16 GeV. The range of four-momentum transfer was 0.02<~−t<~1.0 GeV2. The π+ mesons were produced in a polarized butanol target and detected with the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center 20−GeVc spectrometer. A sizable asymmetry was found at both 5 and 16 GeV, a typical value being -0.6 near −t=0.3 GeV2. A small amount of data on the asymmetry of other photoproduction processes was also obtained.

Measurements of the cross section for photoproduction of [...] mesons from hydrogen have been extended to angles as small as 5[...] in the c. m. system, using a magnetic spectrometer. At a photon energy of 1025 Mev, the cross section decreases as the angle changes from 5[degrees] to 13[degrees], reaching a minimum before increasing again to the maximum near 40[degrees] which has been previously observed (5). Less extensive measurements at energies 700, 800, 900, and 960 Mev all show a similar rapid decrease with angle in the angular range less than 15[degrees] c.m., although below 960 Mev no actual minimum is observed. These effects at small angles arise presumably from the "retardation term", or "meson current" term and its interference with other contributions to the photoproduction amplitude. It is interesting that a minimum near 15[degrees] is characteristic of the pure Born approximation (retardation term plus "S-wave"). Values of the 0[degree] cross section that are much more accurate than previous estimates have been obtained. An attempt has been made to extract a value of the pion-nucleon coupling constant by an extrapolation into the region cos [...]. Using the best set of data, the value obtained was [...].

A magnetic spectrometer and counter telescope system was used to detect positive pions photoproduced singly in a liquid hydrogen target. Measurements of the differential cross section were made at mean laboratory photon energies, k = 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 GeV and in the angular range from 5° to 165 ° in the center-of-momentum system of the pion. The shape of the angular distribution of the differential cross sections at each value of k is very similar to that of the previously measured distribution at k = 1.0 GeV. The angular distributions were integrated to give the total cross sections. The third pion-nucleon "resonance" peak is seen to be very close to k = 1.0 GeV. A leveling off of the total cross section at k = 1.4 GeV may be due to the fourth "resonance". The accurate small angle data at k = 1.1 and 1.2 GeV permitted a reasonable extrapolation of the differential cross section to the pion-nucleon pole. The value of the pion-nucleon coupling constant, f, was extracted from this extrapolation. The result was f^2 = 0.078 ± 0.011.

The differential cross sections for single-π+ photoproduction from hydrogen have been measured over a range of momentum transfers from -2×10−4 to -2 (GeV/c)2, and photon energies from 5 to 16 GeV. The differential cross section increases by roughly a factor of 2 as the magnitude of the square of the momentum transfer decreases from 0.02 (GeV/c)2. The cross section falls approximately as exp(−3|t|) at large momentum transfers, with a similar momentum-transfer dependence of the cross section at all photon energies studied.

The reaction γ+p→π++n has been measured for incident γ-ray energies from 0.7 to 8 GeV and recoil lab angles from 170° to 180° using the Cornell 10-GeV synchrotron. The data presented here cover the transition region between the resonance region and the high-energy region studied at SLAC. The results are compared with various phenomenological Regge-pole analyses and with similar data on π0 photoproduction taken at DESY.

We have measured angular distributions for single photoproduced π+ mesons at 4.0-, 5.0-, and 7.5-GeV incident photon energies and at lab angles from 11° to 66° with the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center 8-GeV spectrometer. Combined with previous Stanford Linear Accelerator Center results, this gives complete angular coverages for this range of energies. The data show the usual "t" and "u" diffraction peaks and a "central plateau" region dropping as S−7.3.

We have investigated the photoproduction process γ+p→π++n over a wide range of energies and u values at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) accelerator. We also have investigated γ+p→π−+N*++ at one value of u and γ+p→K++Λ0, Σ0 at one u value and three energies. Our results for dσdu for the photoproduction of π+ mesons from hydrogen are roughly α2π of the corresponding cross sections for the elastic scattering of π− mesons from hydrogen. The u dependence of our cross sections is not dominated by nucleon exchange as it is in the case of π+p elastic scattering.

We have studied the ratio R=[dσ(γd→π−pp)dt][dσ(γd→π+nn)dt]−1 at 8 and 16 GeV for momentum transfers |t| from about 0.001 to 1.3 GeV2. R is close to unity for |t|<mπ2, but falls very rapidly with increasing |t|, passing through ½ near |t|=0.1 GeV2 and having a minium value of about 13 near |t|=0.4 GeV2; it slowly increases at larger momentum transfers. These results are similar to those obtained in other laboratories at 3.4 and 5 GeV. This implies considerable interference between the isoscalar and isovector photon amplitudes.