Measurement of the beam asymmetry $\Sigma$ for $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ photoproduction on the proton at $E_\gamma = 9$ GeV

The GlueX collaboration Al Ghoul, H. ; Anassontzis, E.G. ; Austregesilo, A. ; et al.
Phys.Rev.C 95 (2017) 042201, 2017.
Inspire Record 1511149 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.76745

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.

2 data tables

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.