Charged pion electroproduction above the resonance region

Abstract

[Background] Above the nucleon resonance region, the $N(e,e^{\prime }{\pi }^{\pm })N^{\prime }$ data cannot be explained by conventional hadronic models. For example, the observed magnitude of the transverse cross section is significantly underestimated in a framework with Reggeized background amplitudes. [Purpose] Develop a phenomenological framework for the $N(e,e^{\prime }{\pi }^{\pm })N^{\prime }$ reaction at high invariant mass $W$ and deep photon virtuality $Q^2$. [Method] Building on the work of Kaskulov and Mosel, a gauged pion-exchange current is introduced with a running cutoff energy for the proton electromagnetic transition form factor. A new transition form factor is proposed. It respects the correct on-shell limit, has a simple physical interpretation and reduces the number of free parameters by one. [Results] A study of the $W$ dependence of the $N(e,e^{\prime }{\pi }^{\pm })N^{\prime }$ lends support for the newly proposed transition form factor. In addition, an improved description of the separated and unseparated cross sections at $-t\lesssim 0.5{\text{GeV}}^2$ is obtained. The predictions overshoot the measured unseparated cross sections for $-t>0.5{\text{GeV}}^2$. Introducing a strong hadronic form factor in the Reggeized background amplitudes brings the calculations considerably closer to the high $-t$ data. [Conclusions] Hadronic models corrected for resonance/parton duality describe the separated pion electroproduction cross sections above the resonance region reasonably well at low $-t$. In order to validate the applicability of these models at high $-t$, separated cross sections are needed. These are expected to provide a more profound insight into the relevant reaction mechanisms.

11 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Charged pion form factor between $Q^2$=0.60 and 2.45 GeV${}^2$. I. Measurements of the cross section for the ${}^1$H($e,e^{\prime }{\pi }^{+}$)$n$ reaction
• Scaling study of the pion electroproduction cross sections and the pion form factor
• Cross sections for hard exclusive electroproduction of pi+ mesons on a hydrogen target
• Deeply inelastic pions in the exclusive reaction $p(e,e^{\prime }{\pi }^{+})n$ above the resonance region
• Deep exclusive ${\pi }^{+}$ electroproduction off the proton at CLAS
• Deep exclusive electroproduction of ${\pi }^{+}$ at HERMES
• Role of the rho meson in the description of pion electroproduction experiments at JLab

Cited by in corpus (11)

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• Electroweak single-pion production off the nucleon: from threshold to high invariant masses
• Pion and proton form factors in the Regge description of electroproduction $p(e,e^{\prime }{\pi }^{+})n$
• $K^{+}\Lambda$ electroproduction above the resonance region
• Separated Response Function Ratios in Exclusive, Forward pi^{+/-} Electroproduction
• The Ghent Hybrid Model in NuWro: a new neutrino single-pion production model in the GeV regime
• Assessing the theory-data tension in neutrino-induced charged pion production: the effect of final-state nucleon distortion
• Separated Response Functions in Exclusive, Forward ${\pi }^{\pm }$ Electroproduction on Deuterium
• Towards a more complete description of nucleon distortion in lepton-induced single-pion production at low-$Q^2$
• Exclusive ${\pi }^{+}$ electroproduction off the proton from low to high -t
• Probing hard/soft factorization via beam-spin asymmetry in exclusive pion electroproduction from the proton