We explore quark-hadron duality in semi-inclusive pion electroproduction on proton and neutron targets. Using the spin-flavor symmetric quark model, we compute ratios of pi+ and pi- cross sections for both unpolarized and polarized scattering, and discuss realizations of duality in several symmetry breaking scenarios. The model calculations allow one to understand some of the key features of recent data on semi-inclusive pion production at low energies.
We report on the first measurement of cross sections for exclusive deeply virtual pion electroproduction off the proton, $e p \to e^\prime n π^+$, above the resonance region at backward pion center-of-mass angles. The $φ^*_π$-dependent cross sections were measured, from which we extracted three combinations of structure functions of the proton. Our results are compatible with calculations based on nucleon-to-pion transition distribution amplitudes (TDAs) and shed new light on nucleon structure.
The semi-inclusive electroproduction of exotic hadrons, including the $T_{cc}$, $P_{cs}$, and hidden-charm baryon-antibaryon states, is explored under the assumption that they are $S$-wave hadronic molecules of a pair of charmed hadrons. We employ the Monte Carlo event generator Pythia to produce the hadron pairs and then bind them together to form hadronic molecules. With the use of such a production mechanism, the semi-inclusive electroproduction rates are estimated at the order-of-magnitude level. Our results indicate that a larger number of $P_{cs}$ states and $Λ_c\barΛ_c$ molecules can be…
Formalism for radiative correction (RC) calculation in exclusive pion electroproduction on the proton is presented. A FORTRAN code EXCLURAD is developed for the RC procedure. The numerical analysis is done in the kinematics of current Jefferson Lab experiments.
Nucleon to meson transition distribution amplitudes (TDAs), non-diagonal matrix elements of nonlocal three quark operators between a nucleon and a meson states, arise within the collinear factorized description of hard exclusive electroproduction of mesons off nucleons in the backward direction. Below we address the problem of modelling pion to nucleon TDAs. We suggest a factorized Ansatz for quadruple distributions with input from the soft pion theorem for pi N TDAs. In order to satisfy the polynomiality property in its full form the spectral representation is complemented with a D-term like …
Baryon to meson transition distribution amplitudes (TDAs), non-diagonal matrix elements of the nonlocal three quark operator between a nucleon and a meson state, extend the concept of generalized parton distributions. These non-perturbative objects which encode the information on three quark correlations inside the nucleon may be accessed experimentally in backward meson electroproduction reactions. We suggest a general framework for modelling nucleon to pion (pi N) TDAs employing the spectral representation for pi N TDAs in terms of quadruple distributions. The factorized Ansatz for quadruple…
Pion and eta electroproduction data are jointly analyzed for the first time, up to a center-of-mass energy of 1.6 GeV. The framework is a dynamical coupled-channel model, based on the recent Jülich-Bonn-Washington analysis of pion electroproduction data for the same energy range. Comparisons are made to a number of single-channel eta electroproduction fits. By comparing multipoles of comparable fit quality, we find some of these amplitudes are well determined over the near-threshold region, while others will require fits over an extended energy range.
We analyze a low-energy theorem of threshold pion electroproduction which allows one to determine the charge radius of the pion. We show that at the same order where the radius appears, pion loops induce a correction to the momentum dependence of the longitudinal dipole amplitude $L_{0+}^{(-)}$. This model-independent correction amounts to an increase of the pion charge radius squared from the electroproduction data by about 0.26~fm$^2$. It sheds light on the apparent discrepancy between the recent determination of the pion radius from electroproduction data and the one based on pion-electron …
We present a calculation of pion photo- and electroproduction in manifestly Lorentz-invariant baryon chiral perturbation theory up to and including order $q^4$. We fix the low-energy constants by fitting experimental data in all available reaction channels. Our results can be accessed via a web interface, the so-called chiral MAID. We explain how our program works and how it can be used for further analysis.
We re-investigate Adler's PCAC relation in the presence of an external electromagnetic field within the framework of QCD coupled to external fields. We discuss pion electroproduction within a tree-level approximation to chiral perturbation theory and explicitly verify a chiral Ward identity referred to as the Adler-Gilman relation. We critically examine soft-momentum techniques and point out how inadmissable approximations may lead to results incompatible with chiral symmetry. As a result we confirm that threshold pion electroproduction is indeed a tool to obtain information on the axial form …
We present a calculation of pion photo- and electroproduction in manifestly Lorentz-invariant baryon chiral perturbation theory up to and including order q^4. We fix the low-energy constants by fitting experimental data in all available reaction channels. Our results can be accessed via a web interface, the so-called chiral MAID.
In view of the major advances achieved by the CLAS experiments in studying the N* electroexcitation amplitudes, as well as further extension of these studies in the experiments with CLAS12, we present an approach for the evaluation of the resonant contributions to inclusive electron scattering off protons. For the first time, the resonant contributions are determined from the experimental results on N* electrocouplings available from the data analyses of exclusive meson electroproduction off protons. This is a useful benchmark for future endeavours on understanding the transition region betwee…
We analyze amplitudes for the pion electroproduction on proton derived from Lagrangians based on the local chiral SU(2) x SU(2) symmetries. We show that such amplitudes do contain information on the nucleon axial form factor F_A in both soft and hard pion regimes. This result invalidates recent Haberzettl's claim that the pion electroproduction at threshold cannot be used to extract any information regarding F_A.
We discuss the extended on-mass-shell scheme for manifestly Lorentz-invariant baryon chiral perturbation theory. We present a calculation of pion photo- and electroproduction up to and including order $q^4$. The low-energy constants have been fixed by fitting experimental data in all available reaction channels. Our results can be accessed via a web interface, the so-called chiral MAID (http://www.kph.uni-mainz.de/MAID/chiralmaid/).
We use general relations between the Transition Distribution Amplitudes (TDAs), entering the description of the p -> pi0 transition, and the proton Distribution Amplitudes (DAs) in the soft-pion limit to estimate the size of the amplitude for backward electroproduction of pi0 at large Q2.
We study the scaling regime of pion electroproduction in the backward region, eN->e'N'pi. We compute the leading-twist amplitude in the kinematical region, where it factorises into a short-distance matrix element and long-distance dominated nucleon Distribution Amplitudes and nucleon to pion Transition Distribution Amplitudes. Using the chiral limit of the latter, we obtain a first estimate of the cross section, which may be experimentally studied at JLab or Hermes.
It is shown that comments by Guichon [hep-ph/0012126], and also by Bernard, Kaiser, and Meißner [hep-ph/0101062], regarding my recent criticism [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3576 (2000)] of how the axial form factor is supposed to enter pion electroproduction do not address the main point of my argument and therefore are irrelevant.
Pion electroproduction off the proton is analyzed in a new framework based on a general parametrization of transition amplitudes, including constraints from gauge invariance and threshold behavior. Data with energies $1.13~{\rm GeV}<W<1.6~{\rm GeV}$ and $Q^2$ below $6~{\rm GeV}^2$ are included. The model is an extension of the latest Jülich-Bonn solution incorporating constraints from pion-induced and photoproduction data. Performing large scale fits ($\sim10^5$ data) we find a set of solutions with $χ^2_{\rm dof}=1.69-1.81$ which allows us to assess the systematic uncertainty of the approach.
The extension of the concept of generalized parton distributions leads to the introduction of baryon to meson transition distribution amplitudes (TDAs), non-diagonal matrix elements of the nonlocal three quark operator between a nucleon and a meson state. We present a general framework for modelling nucleon to pion ($πN$) TDAs. Our main tool is the spectral representation for πN TDAs in terms of quadruple distributions. We propose a factorized Ansatz for quadruple distributions with input from the soft-pion theorem for πN TDAs. The spectral representation is complemented with a D-term like con…
The invariant amplitudes for pion electroproduction on the nucleon are evaluated by dispersion relations at constant t with MAID as input for the imaginary parts of these amplitudes. In the threshold region these amplitudes are confronted with the predictions of several low-energy theorems derived in the soft-pion limit. In general agreement with Chiral Perturbation Theory, the dispersive approach yields large corrections to these theorems because of the finite pion mass.
Photoproduction of neutral and charged pions off nucleons and deuterium has been precisely calculated in baryon chiral perturbation theory. I review the predictions with the accurate data that have become available over the last few years. Some progress in the description of neutral pion electroproduction off protons is also discussed.
I present some recent results on neutral pion photo- and electroproduction in the threshold region and discuss the low energy theorem for $E_{0+}$ and some novel ones for the $P$-waves. I also study the two-pion production process $γN \to ππN$ from which complementary information can be gained.
We present results on the electroexcitation of the low mass resonances Delta(1232)P33, N(1440)P11, N(1520)D13, and N(1535)S11 in a wide range of Q2. The results were obtained in the comprehensive analysis of JLab-CLAS data on differential cross sections, longitudinally polarized beam asymmetries, and longitudinal target and beam-target asymmetries for pion electroproduction off the proton. The data were analysed using two conceptually different approaches, fixed-t dispersion relations and a unitary isobar model, allowing us to draw conclusions on the model sensitivity of the obtained electroco…
We present novel low--energy theorems for the P--wave multipoles $2M_{1+} + M_{1-}$, $M_{1+} -M_{1-}$, $E_{1+}$ and $L_{1\pm}$ for neutral pion electroproduction off protons. These should be very useful for the analysis of existing or future threshold data.
We present an exploratory study of two pion photo-- and electroproduction off the nucleon in the threshold region. To calculate the pertinent amplitudes, we make use of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. We show that due to finite chiral loops the production cross section for final states with two neutral pions is considerably enhanced. The experimental implications are briefly discussed.
We discuss the extended on-mass-shell scheme for manifestly Lorentz-invariant baryon chiral perturbation theory. We present a calculation of pion photo- and electroproduction up to and including order $q^4$. The low-energy constants have been fixed by fitting experimental data in all available reaction channels. Our results can be accessed via a web interface, the so-called chiral MAID (http://www.kph.uni-mainz.de/MAID/chiralmaid/). We explain how our program works and how it can be used for further analysis.
We perform detailed calculations of two-photon-exchange QED corrections to the cross section of pion electroproduction. The results are obtained with and without the soft-photon approximation; analytic expressions for the radiative corrections are derived. The relative importance of the two-photon correction is analyzed for the kinematics of several experiments at Jefferson Lab. A significant, over 20%, effect due to two-photon exchange is predicted for the backward angles of electron scattering at large transferred momenta.
Azimuthal spin asymmetries, both for charged and neutral pion production in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering of unpolarized charged lepton beams on longitudinally and transversely polarized nucleon targets, are analyzed and calculated. Various assumptions and approximations in the quark distributions and fragmentation functions often used in these calculations are studied in detail. It is found that different approaches to the distribution and fragmentation functions may lead to quite different predictions on the azimuthal asymmetries measured in the HERMES experiments, thus their effe…
Near threshold neutral pion electroproduction on the deuteron is studied in the framework of baryon chiral perturbation theory at next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion. We develop the multipole decomposition for pion production off spin-1 particles appropriate for the threshold region. The existing data at photon virtuality k^2 = -0.1 GeV^2 can be described satisfactorily. Furthermore, the prediction for the S-wave multipole E_d at the photon point is in good agreement with the data.
The amplitudes of the pion electroproduction from the nucleon are derived up to third order in the chiral effective theory including explicit $Δ$(1232) >. The Q^2 evolutions of weighted integrals of amplitudes are presented.
We develop a Lorenz- and gauge-invariant dynamical model for pion electroproduction in the resonance region. The model is based on solving of the Salpeter (instantaneous) equation for the pion-nucleon interaction with a hadron-exchange potential. We find that the one-particle-exchange kernel of the Salpeter equation for pion electroproduction develops an unphysical singularity for a finite value of $Q^{2}$. We analyse two methods of dealing with this problem. Results of our model are compared with recent single-polarization data for pion electroproduction.
We consider pion electroproduction on a proton target close to threshold for Q^2 in the region 1-10 GeV^2. The momentum transfer dependence of the S-wave multipoles at threshold, E_{0+} and L_{0+}, is calculated using light-cone sum rules.
The azimuthal asymmetry observed by the HERMES collaboration in semi-inclusive pion production in deep inelastic scattering of unpolarized positron on the longitudinally polarized proton target, can provide information of the quark transversity distributions of the nucleon. We show that the quark transversity distributions predicted both by the light-cone quark-spectator-diquark model and by a pQCD inspired model can give consistent descriptions of the available HERMES data for the analyzing powers $A_{UL}^{\sin ϕ}$ and $A_{UL}^{\sin 2 ϕ}$ for $π^+$ and $π^-$ productions. We also show that the…
Methods are set forth for determining the hadron electromagnetic structure in the sub-$N\bar{N}$-threshold timelike region of the virtual-photon ``mass'' and for investigating the nucleon weak structure in the spacelike region from experimental data on the process $πN\to e^+e^- N$ at low energies. These methods are formulated using the unified description of photoproduction, electroproduction, and inverse electroproduction of pions in the first resonance region in the framework of the dispersion-relation model and on the basis of the model-independent properties of inverse electroproduction. A…
Threshold neutral pion electroproduction on the deuteron is studied in the framework of baryon chiral perturbation theory at next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion. To this order in small momenta, the amplitude is finite and a sum of two- and three-body interactions with no undetermined parameters. We calculate the S-wave multipoles for threshold production and the deuteron S-wave cross section as a function of the photon virtuality. We also discuss the sensitivity to the elementary neutron amplitudes.
Electroproduction of $π^+$ above the resonance region is analyzed in the Regge model for $π+ρ$ exchanges. Importance of the roles of pion and proton form factors in the process is discussed in comparison with existing models of Kaskulov and Mosel, and of Vrancx and Rychebusch. It is shown that the present model with proton form factor of a simple dipole-type yields a better description of DESY and JLab data over those models for high $Q^2$ and $-t$ region up to 5 GeV$^2$.
Parity violating (PV) contributions due to interference between $γ$ and $Z^0$ exchange are calculated for pion electroproduction off the nucleon. A phenomenological model with effective Lagrangians is used to determine the resulting asymmetry for the energy region between threshold and $Δ(1232)$ resonance. The $Δ$ resonance is treated as a Rarita-Schwinger field with phenomenological $N Δ$ transition currents. The background contributions are given by the usual Born terms using the pseudovector $πN$ Lagrangian. Numerical results for the asymmetry are presented.
We consider pion electroproduction close to threshold for $Q^2$ in the region 1-10 GeV$^2$ on a nucleon target. The momentum transfer dependence of the S-wave multipoles at threshold, $E_{0+}$ and $L_{0+}$, is calculated in the chiral limit using light-cone sum rules. Predictions for the cross sections in the threshold region are given taking into account P-wave contributions that, as we argue, are model independent to a large extent. The results are compared with the SLAC E136 data on the structure function $F_2(W,Q^2)$ in the threshold region.
We have performed a series of global and single-Q2 fits to the growing database for pion electroproduction. We compare to some other recent fits which have used different formalisms, more selective datasets, and truncated multipole expansions. We present results for the E2/M1 and S2/M1 ratios, as a function of Q2.
Current measurements of the high energy behavior of the pion form factor are obtained from pion electroproduction data. These values are model dependent, utilizing the Vanderhaeghen, Guidal and Laget Regge (VGL) Model for their extraction. Recent work which examined the implementation of gauge invariance in that model suggested that it might lead to extracted pion form factors larger than the true values. Here we introduce a new model which preserves the successes of the VGL Model but implements gauge invariance in a new way. To demonstrate the validity of this new approach, we first use it to…
Sum of the time component of $Σ$ term and the induced pseudo scalar term in axial current is shown to be the t-channel pion pole in Born terms for pion electroproduction near threshold. We also show that this $Σ$ term represents the charged pseudo scalar quark density matrix elements in nucleon and manifests itself in the $L_0^+$ amplitude on this reaction.
By introducing electromagnetic formfactors in the spacelike region we extend an effective, gauge invariant Lagrangian model considering Born terms, baryon resonances up to 1.7 GeV and vector meson contributions (Rho, Omega) to calculate electroproduction of Pi-mesons. This model forms the basis for predictions of pion induced dilepton production on the nucleon. Therefore, the implemented formfactors are constructed in such a way that their analytic continuation into the timelike region is possible. It is shown that the seagull term and the N*(1520) resonance play a dominant role in the dilepto…
We develop an extension of chiral perturbation theory to the $Δ$(1232)-resonance energy region and apply it to investigate the pion electroproduction off the nucleon ($e^- N \to e^- Nπ$). We present a complete calculation of this process, in the $Δ$-resonance region, up to next-to-leading order in the {\it $δ$-expansion}. At this order, the only free parameters are the three low-energy constants corresponding to the magnetic (M1), electric (E2), and Coulomb (C2) $γN \to Δ$ transition strength. After fitting these parameters to a few well-known data, our calculation provides a prediction for ob…
Results of the recently developed unitary isobar model (MAID) are presented for the spin asymmetries, structure functions and relevant sum rules in the resonance region. The model describes the presently available data for single-pion photo- and electroproduction in the resonance region below Wcm = 2 GeV very well. It is based on Born terms and resonance contributions, and the respective multipoles are constructed in a gauge-invariant and unitary way for each partial wave. The eta production is included in a similar way, while the contribution of more-pion and higher channels is modeled by com…
A fit to the existing pion electroproduction data is presented. This work builds upon our previous analyses of pion photoproduction and elastic pion-nucleon scattering over the Delta resonance region. We comment on the extraction of E_1+ ^3/2 / M_1+ ^3/2 (E2/M1) and S_1+ ^3/2 / M_1+ ^3/2 (S2/M1) ratios, and note that the E2/M1 ratio approaches, and possibly crosses, zero below a Q2 of 5 (GeV/c}^2.
We use the Athens Model Independent Analysis Scheme (AMIAS) to examine the validity of using the Fermi-Watson theorem in the multipole analyses of pion photoproduction and electroproduction data. A standard practice in this field is to fix the multipoles' phases from $πN$ scattering data, making use of the Fermi - Watson theorem. However, these phases are known with limited accuracy and the effect of this uncertainty on the obtained multipole extraction has not been fully explored yet. Using AMIAS we constrain the phases within their experimentally determined uncertainty. We first analyze sets…
We present an overview of our efforts to analyze pion-nucleon elastic scattering data, along with data from related photo- and electroproduction reactions, in order to study the baryon spectrum. We then focus on the Delta(1232) resonance. Fits to pion photo- and electroproduction data have been used to extract values for the R_EM = E2/M1 and R_SM = S2/M1 ratios as functions of Q^2. These results are compared to other recent determinations.
Near threshold neutral pion electroproduction on the deuteron is studied in the framework of heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. We include the next-to-leading order corrections to the three-body contributions. We find an improved description of the total and differential cross section data measured at MAMI. We also obtain more precise values for the threshold S-wave multipoles. We discuss in detail the theoretical uncertainties of the calculation.
Electroproduction of pions on the nucleon near the threshold is analyzed within the framework of baryon chiral perturbation theory. We give a thorough discussion of the low--energy theorems related to charged and neutral electropionproduction. It is shown how the axial radius of the nucleon can be related to the S--wave multipoles $E_{0+}^{(-)}$ and $L_{0+}^{(-)}$. The chiral perturbation theory calculations of the $γ^\star p \to π^0 p$ reaction are found to be in good agreement with the recent near threshold data. We also discuss the influence of some isospin--breaking effects in this channel…
We obtain the electromagnetic form factors of the $γNΔ$ transition by analyzing recent pion-electroproduction data using a fully relativistic dynamical model. Special care is taken to satisfy Ward-Takahashi identities for the Born term in the presence of form factors thereby allowing the use of realistic electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon and pion. We parametrize the $Q^2$ dependence of the {\it bare} $γN Δ$ form factors by a three-parameter form which is consistent with the asymptotic behavior inferred from QCD. The parameters of the bare $γN Δ$ form factors are the only free paramet…
Coherent pion electroproduction on the deuteron is studied in the $Δ(1232)$ resonance region in the impulse approximation, i.e., neglecting pion rescattering and two-body effects. The elementary reaction on the nucleon is described in the framework of an effective Lagrangian approach including the dominant $P_{33}(1232)$ resonance and the usual background terms of the Born contributions for $π^0$ production. We have studied the influence of these different contributions on the various structure functions which determine the unpolarized exclusive differential cross section in a variety of kinem…
We determine the magnetic dipole moment of the rho meson using preliminary data from the BaBar Collaboration for the $e^+ e^- \to π^+ π^- 2 π^0$ process, in the center of mass energy range from 0.9 to 2.2 GeV. We describe the $γ^* \to 4π$ vertex using a vector meson dominance model, including the intermediate resonance contributions relevant at these energies. We find that $μ_ρ= 2.1 \pm 0.5$ in $e/2 m_ρ$ units.
We consider pion production in parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) in the presence of nucleon strangeness in the framework of partial wave analysis with unitarity. Using the experimental bounds on the strange form factors obtained in elastic PVES, we study the sensitivity of the parity-violating asymmetry to strange nucleon form factors. For forward kinematics and electron energies above 1 GeV, we observe that this sensitivity may reach about 20\% in the threshold region. With parity-violating asymmetries being as large as tens p.p.m., this study suggests that threshold pion production…
Neutral pion photo- and electroproduction at threshold is analyzed in the framework of dispersion relations. For this purpose, we evaluate the real threshold amplitudes in terms of Born contributions and dispersion integrals determined by the imaginary parts of the MAID and SAID multipoles. The results show considerable cancellations between Born terms and resonance contributions. Good agreement with the data is found for photoproduction. While our dispersion analysis suggests considerable discrepancies for electroproduction, the present state of the experimental multipole analysis at finite Q…
Positive pion electroproduction from the deuteron near threshold has been considered within an approach based on the unitary transformation method. The gauge independence of the treatment is provided by using an explicitly gauge independent expression for the reaction amplitude. The results of calculations for kinematics of the experiments on forward-angle $π^+$ meson electroproduction accomplished at Saclay and Jefferson Laboratory are discussed and compared with those given by the impulse approximation. It is shown that the observed behaviour of the cross sections is in accordance with the c…
Pion photo- and electroproduction has been studied at threshold and in the resonance region below W=2GeV. At threshold pi^0 production can be very well explained within a dynamical model derived from an effective chiral Lagrangian. The final state interaction is nearly saturated by single charge exchange rescattering. In the resonance region new electroproduction data at Q^2=1GeV^2 has been analyzed with MAID and longitudinal and transverse photon helicity amplitudes have been determined for different resonances. A detailed study of the E/M and S/M ratios of the N->Delta transition shows a zer…
The relevance of the axial current for pion production processes off the nucleon with real or virtual photons is revisited. Employing the hypothesis of a partially conserved axial current (PCAC), it is shown that, when all of the relevant contributions are taken into account, PCAC does not provide any additional constraint for threshold production processes that goes beyond the Goldberger-Treiman relation. In particular, it is shown that pion electroproduction processes at threshold cannot be used to extract any information regarding the weak axial form factor. The relationships found in previ…
A new operator for pion photo- and electroproduction has been developed for nuclear applications at photon equivalent energies up to 1 GeV. The model contains Born terms, vector mesons and nucleon resonances ($P_{33}(1232)$, $P_{11}(1440)$, $D_{13}(1520)$, $S_{11}(1535)$, $F_{15}(1680)$, and $D_{33}(1700)$). The resonance contributions are included taking into account unitarity to provide the correct phases of the pion photoproduction multipoles. The $Q^2$ dependence of electromagnetic resonance vertices is described with appropriate form factors in the electromagnetic helicity amplitudes. Wit…
