A search was made for sub-threshold $J/psi$ production from a carbon target using a mixed real and quasi-real Bremsstrahlung photon beam with an endpoint energy of 5.76 GeV. No events were observed, which is consistent with predictions assuming quasi-free production. The results place limits on exotic mechanisms that strongly enhance quasi-free production.
We report on the measurement of the $gamma p rightarrow J/psi p$ cross section from $E_gamma = 11.8$ GeV down to the threshold at $8.2$ GeV using a tagged photon beam with the GlueX experiment. We find the total cross section falls toward the threshold less steeply than expected from two-gluon exchange models. The differential cross section $dsigma /dt$ has an exponential slope of $1.67 pm 0.39$ GeV$^{-2}$ at $10.7$ GeV average energy. The LHCb pentaquark candidates $P_c^+$ can be produced in the $s$-channel of this reaction. We see no evidence for them and set model-dependent upper limits on their branching fractions $mathcal{B}(P_c^+ rightarrow J/psi p)$ and cross sections $sigma(gamma p to P_c^+)timesmathcal{B}(P_c^+ to J/psi p) $.
We report the first measurement of the differential cross section on $phi$-meson photoproduction from deuterium near the production threshold for a proton using the CLAS detector and a tagged-photon beam in Hall B at Jefferson Lab. The measurement was carried out by a triple coincidence detection of a proton, $K^+$ and $K^-$ near the theoretical production threshold of 1.57 GeV. The extracted differential cross sections $frac{dsigma}{dt}$ for the initial photon energy from 1.65-1.75 GeV are consistent with predictions based on a quasifree mechanism. This experiment establishes a baseline for a future experimental search for an exotic $phi$-N bound state from heavier nuclear targets utilizing subthreshold/near-threshold production of $phi$ mesons.
Gluon density and its distributions inside nuclei and the parton modification of bounded nucleons inside a nucleus, are some of the main standing problems in nuclear and particle physics. In recent years, ultra-peripheral collisions (UPC) of heavy ions have provided a new way of probing the gluon density, which is based on coherent diffractive vector-meson productions, e.g., $J/psi$ meson. For heavy ions, e.g., Pb, the gluon density is found to be significantly suppressed through the UPC $J/psi$ measurement, suggesting a strong gluon shadowing effect in heavy nuclei. In this analysis, we aim to look at a unique set of data taken by the STAR experiment, where $J/psi$ mesons are photoproduced off the deuteron target with no other particle produced, except for the deuteron or its breakup products. The Zero Degree Calorimeter response with respect to the deuteron dissociation by detecting a beam-rapidity neutron is also investigated and provides additional information about the underlying physics process. The cross section of $J/psi$ photoproduction in the photon-deuteron system is measured at the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy $Wsim25~rm{GeV}$, as well as the momentum transfer $t$ dependence cross section, $dsigma/dt$. Data suggests a wider gluon density distribution than the Hulthen charge density distribution in deuteron.
We study sub-threshold heavy quarkonium ($J/psi$ and $Upsilon$) photo-productions in $gamma A$ collisions as an independent test of the universality of the nucleon-nucleon short range correlation (SRC) in nuclear scattering processes. Just below the $gamma p$ threshold, the cross section is dominated by the mean field contribution of nucleons inside the nucleus. The SRC contributions start to dominate at lower photon energies, depending on the fraction of the SRC pairs in the target nucleus. We give an estimate of the cross sections in the sub-threshold region both for $J/psi$ and $Upsilon$. This may be helpful for future measurements at JLab as well as at the Electron-Ion Collider in the U.S., and especially in China.
The differential cross sections and unpolarized spin-density matrix elements for the reaction $gamma pto pomega$ were measured using the CBELSA/TAPS experiment for initial photon energies ranging from the reaction threshold to 2.5 GeV. These observables were measured from the radiative decay of the $omega$ meson, $omegatopi^0gamma$. The cross sections cover the full angular range and show the full extent of the $t$-channel forward rise. The overall shape of the angular distributions in the differential cross sections and unpolarized spin-density matrix elements are in fair agreement with previous data. In addition, for the first time, a beam of linearly-polarized tagged photons in the energy range from 1150 MeV to 1650 MeV was used to extract polarized spin-density matrix elements. These data were included in the Bonn-Gatchina partial wave analysis (PWA). The dominant contribution to $omega$ photoproduction near threshold was found to be the $3/2^+$ partial wave, which is primarily due to the sub-threshold $N(1720),3/2^+$ resonance. At higher energies, pomeron-exchange was found to dominate whereas $pi$-exchange remained small. These $t$-channel contributions as well as further contributions from nucleon resonances were necessary to describe the entire dataset: the $1/2^-$, $3/2^-$, and $5/2^+$ partial waves were also found to contribute significantly.