Diffractive Neutral Pion Production, Chiral Symmetry and the Odderon

TL;DR

This paper investigates the diffractive production of neutral pions via odderon exchange at high energies, revealing a suppression due to chiral symmetry that explains why this process was not observed at HERA.

Contribution

It demonstrates that chiral symmetry suppresses the diffractive neutral pion production, resolving previous discrepancies between theory and experimental non-observation.

Findings

Chiral symmetry causes dynamical suppression of the process.

Reconciles theoretical predictions with HERA non-observation.

Highlights the role of odderon exchange in high-energy diffraction.

Abstract

We discuss the diffractive photo- and electroproduction of a single neutral pion at high energies where it can occur due to odderon exchange. We show that this process is dynamically suppressed as a consequence of chiral symmetry. Our result reconciles earlier theoretical expectations with the non-observation of this reaction at HERA.