Ambiguities in the Partial-Wave Analysis of the Photoproduction of Pairs of Pseudoscalar Mesons

TL;DR

This paper investigates the ambiguities in partial-wave analysis of pseudoscalar meson pair photoproduction, revealing continuous ambiguities in certain cases and exploring methods to resolve them for better data interpretation.

Contribution

It demonstrates the existence of continuous ambiguities in partial-wave analysis where discrete ambiguities are absent and discusses strategies to resolve these ambiguities.

Findings

Continuous ambiguities can occur in partial-wave analysis without discrete ambiguities.

Certain wave sets are susceptible to continuous ambiguities.

Methods to resolve these ambiguities are proposed and analyzed.

Abstract

Applying the technique of partial-wave analysis, there are cases where more than one set of underlying complex-valued amplitudes can describe the measured observables. These ambiguities can sometimes be resolved using additional information, but assumptions are often required. It is known that the partial-wave analysis of two-pseudoscalar meson systems produced in photoproduction with a linearly polarized photon beam is free from discrete ambiguities stemming from the Barrelet zeros when the nucleon spin is ignored. In this article, we show that continuous ambiguities are possible for certain wave sets, even though the discrete ambiguities do not appear. We also explore ways to resolve these ambiguities and determine the maximal amount of information that can be obtained from analyses that suffer from these continuous ambiguities.