Measurements of ${\hat{I}}_v^{3}p\to \ddot{I}{€}^{+}\ddot{I}{€}^{-}{p}^{\prime }$ Cross Sections with the CLAS Detector for $Q^2$ from 2.0--5.0~GeV${}^2$ and $W$ from 1.400--2.125~GeV

Abstract

Observables in the electroproduction of the $\ddot{I}{€}^{+}\ddot{I}{€}^{-}p$ reaction channel off the proton that are sensitive to the polarization of the virtual photon are presented for the first time in addition to the extraction of the nine single-differential and fully integrated cross sections within the kinematics area of 2.0~GeV${}^2<Q^2<5.0$~GeV${}^2$ and 1.400~GeV $<W<2.125$~GeV measured with the CLAS detector in Hall B at Jefferson Lab. The extraction of the unpolarized cross sections has been considerably improved in comparison with previously published results from this same dataset, offering finer binning over the five-dimensional hadronic reaction phase space, and including essential advances in the acceptance evaluation by implementing a new technique to stabilize the cross section extraction and minimize the systematic uncertainty associated with the simulation statistics. These improvements are of particular importance for the extraction of the ${\hat{I}}_v^{3}p{N}^{\ast }$ electrocouplings from these data.

22 pages, 20 figures