Photoproduction of meson pairs: First measurement of the polarization observable I^s

TL;DR

This paper reports the first measurement of the polarization observable I^s in meson pair photoproduction, revealing high sensitivity to reaction dynamics and providing new insights into partial wave contributions.

Contribution

First experimental measurement of the polarization observable I^s in multi-meson photoproduction, enhancing understanding of reaction mechanisms and partial wave analysis.

Findings

Large asymmetries indicate high sensitivity to reaction dynamics

Polarization observables provide significant information on partial waves

Results improve constraints on theoretical models

Abstract

The polarization observable I^s, a feature exclusive to the acoplanar kinematics of multi-meson final states produced via linearly polarized photons, has been measured for the first time. Results for the reaction g p -> p pi0 eta are presented for incoming photon energies between 970 MeV and 1650 MeV along with the beam asymmetry I^c. The comparably large asymmetries demonstrate a high sensitivity of I^s to the dynamics of the reaction. Fits using Bonn-Gatchina partial wave analysis demonstrate that the new polarization observables carry significant information on the contributing partial waves.