DOE OSTI2015
Background: Measurements of forward exclusive meson production at different squared four-momenta of the exchanged virtual photon, Q 2 , and at different four-momentum transfer, t, can be used to probe QCD's transition from meson-nucleon degrees of freedom at long distances to quark-gluon degrees of freedom at short scales. Ratios of separated response functions in Οβ» and ΟβΊ electroproduction are particularly informative. Ratio for transverse photons may allow this transition to be more easily observed, while the ratio for longitudinal photons provides a crucial verification of the assumed pole dominance, needed for reliable extraction of the pion form factor from electroproduction data. Method: Data were acquired with 2.6-5.2 GeV electron beams and the HMS+SOS spectrometers in Jefferson Lab Hall C, at central Q 2 values of 0.6, 1.0, 1.6 GeV 2 at W=1.95 GeV, and Q 2 =2.45 GeV 2 at W=2.22 GeV. There was significant coverage in Ξ¦ And Ο΅, which allowed separation of Ο L,T,LT,TT . Results: ΟL shows a clear signature of the pion pole, with a sharp rise at small -t. In contrast, Ο T is much flatter versus t. The longitudinal/transverse ratios evolve with Q 2 and t, and at the highest Q 2 =2.45 GeV 2 show a slight enhancement for Οβ» Production compared to ΟβΊ. The Οβ»/ΟβΊ+ ratio for transverse photons exhibits only a small Q 2 -dependence, following a nearly universal curve with t, with a steep transition to a value of about 0.25, consistent with s-channel quark knockout. The Ο TT /Ο T ratio also drops rapidly with Q 2 , qualitatively consistent with s-channel helicity conservation. The Οβ»/ΟβΊ ratio for longitudinal photons indicates a small isoscalar contamination at W=1.95 GeV, consistent with what was observed in our earlier determination of the pion form factor at these kinematics.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICSβ