The reactions $\gamma p\to \eta p$ and $\gamma p\to \eta' p$ have been measured from their thresholds up to the center-of-mass energy $W=1.96$GeV with the tagged-photon facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. Differential cross sections were obtained with unprecedented accuracy, providing fine energy binning and full production-angle coverage. A strong cusp is observed in the total cross section and excitation functions for $\eta$ photoproduction at the energies in vicinity of the $\eta'$ threshold, $W=1896$MeV ($E_\gamma=1447$MeV). This behavior is explained in a revised $\eta$MAID isobar model by a significant branching of the $N(1895)1/2^-$ nucleon resonance to both, $\eta p$ and $\eta' p$, confirming the existence and constraining the properties of this poorly known state.
Run 1. Total cross section as a function of c.m. energy W.
Run 2. Total cross section as a function of c.m. energy W.
Run 3. Total cross section as a function of c.m. energy W.
Differential cross sections for the gamma p -> pi^0 p reaction have been measured with the A2 tagged-photon facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI C, up to the center-of-mass energy W=1.9 GeV. The new results, obtained with a fine energy and angular binning, increase the existing quantity of pi^0 photoproduction data by ~47%. Owing to the unprecedented statistical accuracy and the full angular coverage, the results are sensitive to high partial-wave amplitudes. This is demonstrated by the decomposition of the differential cross sections in terms of Legendre polynomials and by further comparison to model predictions. A new solution of the SAID partial-wave analysis obtained after adding the new data into the fit is presented.
Run 1. Total cross section as a function of c.m. energy W.
Excitation function at cos(Theta_eta)= -0.967
Excitation function at cos(Theta_eta)= -0.900
The γp→π0p reaction was studied at laboratory photon energies from 425 to 1445 MeV with a transversely polarized target and a longitudinally polarized beam. The beam-target asymmetry F was measured for the first time and new high precision data for the target asymmetry T were obtained. The experiment was performed at the photon tagging facility of the Mainz Microtron (MAMI) using the Crystal Ball and TAPS photon spectrometers. The polarized cross sections were expanded in terms of associated Legendre functions and compared to recent predictions from several partial-wave analyses. The impact of the new data on our understanding of the underlying partial-wave amplitudes and baryon resonance contributions is discussed.
Target asymmetry T for c.m. energy W= 1.3062 GeV
Target asymmetry T for c.m. energy W= 1.3275 GeV
Target asymmetry T for c.m. energy W= 1.3486 GeV
The $\gamma n \to \pi^0 n$ differential cross section evaluated for 27 energy bins span the photon-energy range 290-813 MeV (W = 1.195-1.553 GeV) and the pion c.m. polar production angles, ranging from 18 deg to 162 deg, making use of model-dependent nuclear corrections to extract pi0 production data on the neutron from measurements on the deuteron target. Additionally, the total photoabsorption cross section was measured. The tagged photon beam produced by the 883-MeV electron beam of the Mainz Microtron MAMI was used for the 0-meson production. Our accumulation of 3.6 x 10^6 $\gamma n \to \pi^0 n$ events allowed a detailed study of the reaction dynamics. Our data are in reasonable agreement with previous A2 measurements and extend them to lower energies. The data are compared to predictions of previous SAID, MAID, and BnGa partial-wave analyses and to the latest SAID fit MA19 that included our data. Selected photon decay amplitudes $N^* \to \gamma n$ at the resonance poles are determined for the first time.
Excitation function at pion c.m. angle THETA=18 deg as function of incident photon energy E. The uncertainties are statistical and systematic, combined in quadrature.
Excitation function at pion c.m. angle THETA=32 deg as function of incident photon energy E. The uncertainties are statistical and systematic, combined in quadrature.
Excitation function at pion c.m. angle THETA=41 deg as function of incident photon energy E. The uncertainties are statistical and systematic, combined in quadrature.
A precision measurement of the differential cross sections $d\sigma/d\Omega$ and the linearly polarized photon asymmetry $\Sigma \equiv (d\sigma_\perp - d\sigma_\parallel) \slash (d\sigma_\perp + d\sigma_\parallel)$ for the $\vec{\gamma} p \rightarrow \pi^0p$ reaction in the near-threshold region has been performed with a tagged photon beam and almost $4\pi$ detector at the Mainz Microtron. The Glasgow-Mainz photon tagging facility along with the Crystal Ball/TAPS multi-photon detector system and a cryogenic liquid hydrogen target were used. These data allowed for a precise determination of the energy dependence of the real parts of the $S$- and all three $P$-wave amplitudes for the first time and provide the most stringent test to date of the predictions of Chiral Perturbation Theory and its energy region of agreement with experiment.
Differential cross section at W=1.0752268 GeV
Differential cross section at W=1.0773190 GeV
Differential cross section at W=1.0793464 GeV
Precise helicity-dependent cross sections and the double-polarization observable $E$ were measured for $\eta$ photoproduction from quasi-free protons and neutrons bound in the deuteron. The $\eta\rightarrow 2\gamma$ and $\eta\rightarrow 3\pi^0\rightarrow 6\gamma$ decay modes were used to optimize the statistical quality of the data and to estimate systematic uncertainties. The measurement used the A2 detector setup at the tagged photon beam of the electron accelerator MAMI in Mainz. A longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target was used in combination with a circularly polarized photon beam from bremsstrahlung of a longitudinally polarized electron beam. The reaction products were detected with the electromagnetic calorimeters Crystal Ball and TAPS, which covered 98\% of the full solid angle. The results show that the narrow structure observed earlier in the unpolarized excitation function of $\eta$ photoproduction off the neutron appears only in reactions with antiparallel photon and nucleon spin ($\sigma_{1/2}$). It is absent for reactions with parallel spin orientation ($\sigma_{3/2}$) and thus very probably related to partial waves with total spin 1/2. The behavior of the angular distributions of the helicity-dependent cross sections was analyzed by fitting them with Legendre polynomials. The results are in good agreement with a model from the Bonn-Gatchina group, which uses an interference of $P_{11}$ and $S_{11}$ partial waves to explain the narrow structure.
Diff. cross section for helicity-1/2 at W= 1.505 GeV
Diff. cross section for helicity-1/2 at W= 1.515 GeV
Diff. cross section for helicity-1/2 at W= 1.525 GeV
The helicity-dependent single $\pi^{0}$ photoproduction cross section on the deuteron and the angular dependence of the double polarisation observable $E$ for the quasi-free single $\pi^0$ production off the proton and the neutron have been measured for the first time from the threshold region up to the photon energy 1.4 GeV. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon facility of the MAMI accelerator and used a circularly polarised photon beam and longitudinally polarised deuteron target. The reaction products were detected using the large acceptance Crystal Ball/TAPS calorimeter, which covered 97% of the full solid angle. Comparing the cross section from the deuteron with the sum of free nucleon cross sections provides a quantitative estimate of the effects of the nuclear medium on pion production. In contrast, comparison of $E$ helicity asymmetry data from quasi-free protons off deuterium with data from a free proton target indicates that nuclear effects do not significantly affect this observable. As a consequence, it is deduced that the helicity asymmetry $E$ on a free neutron can be reliably extracted from measurements on a deuteron in quasi-free kinematics.
Inclusive polarized total cross section as a function of photon beam energy.
Helicity-dependent differential cross section on deuteron at Egamma= 161. MeV
Helicity-dependent differential cross section on deuteron at Egamma= 178. MeV
A new measurement of the rare, doubly radiative decay eta->pi^0 gamma gamma was conducted with the Crystal Ball and TAPS multiphoton spectrometers together with the photon tagging facility at the Mainz Microtron MAMI. New data on the dependence of the partial decay width, Gamma(eta->pi^0 gamma gamma), on the two-photon invariant mass squared, m^2(gamma gamma), as well as a new, more precise value for the decay width, Gamma(eta->pi^0 gamma gamma) = (0.33+/-0.03_tot) eV, are based on analysis of 1.2 x 10^3 eta->pi^0 gamma gamma decays from a total of 6 x 10^7 eta mesons produced in the gamma p -> eta p reaction. The present results for dGamma(eta->pi^0 gamma gamma)/dm^2(gamma gamma) are in good agreement with previous measurements and recent theoretical calculations for this dependence.
D(WIDTH(ETA --> PI0 GAMMA GAMMA))/DM**2(GAMMA GAMMA) obtained from the data of 2007 and 2009 and their average. The error on the average is the total error.
We present new data for the transverse target asymmetry T and the very first data for the beam-target asymmetry F in the $\vec \gamma \vec p\to\eta p$ reaction up to a center-of-mass energy of W=1.9 GeV. The data were obtained with the Crystal-Ball/TAPS detector setup at the Glasgow tagged photon facility of the Mainz Microtron MAMI. All existing model predictions fail to reproduce the new data indicating a significant impact on our understanding of the underlying dynamics of $\eta$ meson photoproduction. The peculiar nodal structure observed in existing T data close to threshold is not confirmed.
Target asymmetry T for c.m. energy W= 1.4969 GeV
Target asymmetry T for c.m. energy W= 1.5156 GeV
Target asymmetry T for c.m. energy W= 1.5341 GeV
The quasifree $\overrightarrow{\gamma} d\to\pi^0n(p)$ photon beam asymmetry, $\Sigma$, has been measured at photon energies, $E_\gamma$, from 390 to 610 MeV, corresponding to center of mass energy from 1.271 to 1.424 GeV, for the first time. The data were collected in the A2 hall of the MAMI electron beam facility with the Crystal Ball and TAPS calorimeters covering pion center-of-mass angles from 49 to 148$^\circ$. In this kinematic region, polarization observables are sensitive to contributions from the $\Delta (1232)$ and $N(1440)$ resonances. The extracted values of $\Sigma$ have been compared to predictions based on partial-wave analyses (PWAs) of the existing pion photoproduction database. Our comparison includes the SAID, MAID, and Bonn-Gatchina analyses; while a revised SAID fit, including the new $\Sigma$ measurements, has also been performed. In addition, isospin symmetry is examined as a way to predict $\pi^0n$ photoproduction observables, based on fits to published data in the channels $\pi^0p$, $\pi^+n$, and $\pi^-p$.
Photon beam asymmetry Sigma at W= 1.2711 GeV
Photon beam asymmetry Sigma at W= 1.2858 GeV
Photon beam asymmetry Sigma at W= 1.3003 GeV
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