Measurement of the beam asymmetry $\hat{I}\pounds$ and the target asymmetry $T$ in the photoproduction of $\ddot{I}‰$ mesons off the proton using CLAS at Jefferson Laboratory

Abstract

The photoproduction of $\ddot{I}‰$ mesons off the proton has been studied in the reaction ${\hat{I}}^{3}p\to p\ddot{I}‰$ using the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer (CLAS) and the frozen-spin target (FROST) in Hall B at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. For the first time, the target asymmetry, $T$, has been measured in photoproduction from the decay $\ddot{I}‰\to \ddot{I}{€}^{+}\ddot{I}{€}^{-}\ddot{I}{€}^0$, using a transversely-polarized target with energies ranging from just above the reaction threshold up to 2.8 GeV. Significant non-zero values are observed for these asymmetries, reaching about 30-40% in the third-resonance region. New measurements for the photon-beam asymmetry, $\hat{I}\pounds$, are also presented, which agree well with previous CLAS results and extend the world database up to 2.1 GeV. These data and additional $\ddot{I}‰$-photoproduction observables from CLAS were included in a partial-wave analysis within the Bonn-Gatchina framework. Significant contributions from $s$-channel resonance production were found in addition to $t$-channel exchange processes.

15 pages, 10 figures, author list and references updated