Inclusive Photoproduction of rho^0, K^{*0} and phi Mesons at HERA

TL;DR

This paper reports on the measurement of inclusive photoproduction of rho, K^*, and phi mesons at HERA, providing data on their production rates and kinematic distributions in ep collisions at 210 GeV.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed measurements of these mesons' production in non-diffractive photoproduction at HERA, comparing results with hadroproduction models.

Findings

Measured differential cross sections as functions of p_T and rapidity.

Provided data to test and refine hadroproduction models.

Extended understanding of meson production mechanisms in ep collisions.

Abstract

Inclusive non-diffractive photoproduction of rho(770)^0, K^*(892)^0 and phi(1020) mesons is investigated with the H1 detector in ep collisions at HERA. The corresponding average \gamma p centre-of-mass energy is 210 GeV. The mesons are measured in the transverse momentum range 0.5<p_T<7 GeV and the rapidity range |y_{lab}|<1. Differential cross sections are presented as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity, and are compared to the predictions of hadroproduction models.