Photoproduction of $pieta$-pairs from nucleons has been investigated from threshold up to incident photon energies of $approx$~1.4~GeV. The quasi-free reactions $gamma prightarrow ppi^0eta$, $gamma nrightarrow npi^0eta$, $gamma prightarrow npi^+eta$,
and $gamma nrightarrow ppi^-eta$ were for the first time measured from nucleons bound in the deuteron. The corresponding reactions from a free-proton target were also studied to investigate final-state interaction effects (for neutral pions the free-proton results could be compared to previous measurements; the $gamma prightarrow npi^+eta$ reaction was measured for the first time). For the $pi^0eta$ final state coherent production via the $gamma drightarrow dpi^0eta$ reaction was also investigated. The experiments were performed at the tagged photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator using an almost $4pi$ coverage electromagnetic calorimeter composed of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. The total cross sections for the four different final states obey the relation $sigma(ppi^0eta)$ $approx$ $sigma(npi^0eta)$ $approx$ $2sigma(ppi^-eta)$ $approx$ $2sigma(npi^+eta)$ as expected for a dominant contribution from a $Delta^{star}rightarrowetaDelta(1232)rightarrowpieta N$ reaction chain, which is also supported by the shapes of the invariant-mass distributions of nucleon-meson and $pi$-$eta$ pairs. The experimental results are compared to the predictions from an isobar reaction model.
Precise angular distributions have been measured for the first time for the photoproduction of $pi^{0}$-mesons off neutrons bound in the deuteron. The effects from nuclear Fermi motion have been eliminated by a complete kinematic reconstruction of th
e final state. The influence of final-state-interaction effects has been estimated by a comparison of the reaction cross section for quasi-free protons bound in the deuteron to the results for free protons and then applied as a correction to the quasi-free neutron data. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon facility of the Mainz Microtron MAMI with the Crystal Ball and TAPS detector setup for incident photon energies between $0.45$~GeV and $1.4$~GeV. The results are compared to the predictions from reaction models and partial-wave analyses based on data from other isospin channels. The model predictions show large discrepancies among each other and the present data will provide much tighter constraints. This is demonstrated by the results of a new analysis in the framework of the Bonn-Gatchina coupled-channel analysis which included the present data.
Beam-helicity asymmetries have been measured at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz for the photoproduction of mixed-charge pion pairs in the reactions $boldsymbol{gamma}prightarrow npi^0pi^+$ off free protons and $boldsymbol{gamma}drightarrow (p)ppi^0pi^-
$ and $boldsymbol{gamma}drightarrow (n)npi^0pi^+$ off quasi-free nucleons bound in the deuteron for incident photon energies up to 1.4 GeV. Circularly polarized photons were produced from bremsstrahlung of longitudinally polarized electrons and tagged with the Glasgow-Mainz magnetic spectrometer. The charged pions, recoil protons, recoil neutrons, and decay photons from $pi^0$ mesons were detected in the 4$pi$ electromagnetic calorimeter composed of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. Using a complete kinematic reconstruction of the final state, excellent agreement was found between the results for free and quasi-free protons, suggesting that the quasi-free neutron results are also a close approximation of the free-neutron asymmetries. A comparison of the results to the predictions of the Two-Pion-MAID reaction model shows that the reaction mechanisms are still not well understood, in particular at low incident photon energies in the second nucleon-resonance region.
Quasi-free photoproduction of $eta$-mesons has been measured off nucleons bound in $^3$He nuclei for incident photon energies from the threshold region up to 1.4 GeV. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon facility of the Mainz MAMI accele
rator with an almost $4pi$ covering electromagnetic calorimeter, combining the TAPS and Crystal Ball detectors. The $eta$-mesons were detected in coincidence with the recoil nucleons. This allowed a comparison of the production cross section off quasi-free protons and quasi-free neutrons and a full kinematic reconstruction of the final state, eliminating effects from nuclear Fermi motion. In the $S_{11}$(1535) resonance peak, the data agree with the neutron/proton cross section ratio extracted from measurements with deuteron targets. More importantly, the prominent structure observed in photoproduction off quasi-free neutrons bound in the deuteron is also clearly observed. Its parameters (width, strength) are consistent with the expectations from the deuteron results. On an absolute scale the cross sections for both quasi-free protons and neutrons are suppressed with respect to the deuteron target pointing to significant nuclear final state interaction effects.
The photoproduction of $eta$-mesons off nucleons bound in $^2$H and $^3$He has been measured in coincidence with recoil protons and recoil neutrons for incident photon energies from threshold up to 1.4 GeV. The experiments were performed at the Mainz
MAMI accelerator, using the Glasgow tagged photon facility. Decay photons from the $etarightarrow 2gamma$ and $etarightarrow 3pi^0$ decays and the recoil nucleons were detected with an almost $4pi$ electromagnetic calorimeter combining the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. The data from both targets are of excellent statistical quality and show a narrow structure in the excitation function of $gamma nrightarrow neta$. The results from the two measurements are consistent taking into account the expected effects from nuclear Fermi motion. The best estimates for position and intrinsic width of the structure are $W$ = (1670$pm$5) MeV and $Gamma$ =(30$pm$15) MeV. For the first time precise results for the angular dependence of this structure have been extracted.
Beam-helicity asymmetries have been measured at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz for the photoproduction of neutral pion pairs in the reactions $vec{gamma}prightarrow ppi^0pi^0$ and $vec{gamma}drightarrow (n)ppi^0pi^0$, $vec{gamma}drightarrow (p)npi^0pi
^0$ off free protons and off quasi-free nucleons bound in the deuteron for incident photon energies up to 1.4 GeV. Circularly polarized photons were produced from bremsstrahlung of longitudinally polarized electrons and tagged with the Glasgow magnetic spectrometer. Decay photons from the $pi^0$ mesons, recoil protons, and recoil neutrons were detected in the 4$pi$ covering electromagnetic calorimeter composed of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. After kinematic reconstruction of the final state, excellent agreement was found between the results for free and quasi-free protons. This demonstrates that the free-nucleon behavior of such observables can be extracted from measurements with quasi-free nucleons, which is the only possibility for the neutron. Contrary to expectations, the measured asymmetries are very similar for reactions off protons and neutrons. The results are compared to the predictions from the Two-Pion-MAID reaction model and (for the proton) also to the Bonn-Gatchina coupled channel analysis.
Photoproduction of $pi^{0}pi^{0}$ and $pi^{0}pi^{pm}$ pairs from nuclei has been measured over a wide mass range ($^2$H, $^{7}$Li, $^{12}$C, $^{40}$Ca, and $^{rm nat}$Pb) for photon energies from threshold to 600 MeV. The experiments were performed a
t the MAMI accelerator in Mainz, using the Glasgow photon tagging spectrometer and a 4$pi$ electromagnetic calorimeter consisting of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. A shift of the pion-pion invariant mass spectra for heavy nuclei to small invariant masses has been observed for $pi^0$ pairs but also for the mixed-charge pairs. The precise results allow for the first time a model-independent analysis of the influence of pion final-state interactions. The corresponding effects are found to be large and must be carefully considered in the search for possible in-medium modifications of the $sigma$-meson. Results from a transport model calculation reproduce the shape of the invariant-mass distributions for the mixed-charge pairs better than for the neutral pairs, but also for the latter differences between model results and experiment are not large, leaving not much room for $sigma$-in-medium modification.
Coherent photoproduction of $pi^0$-mesons from threshold ($E_{th} approx$ 136 MeV) throughout the $Delta$-resonance region and of $eta$-mesons close to the production threshold ($E_{th} approx$ 570 MeV for $eta$) has been measured for $^7$Li nuclei.
The experiment was performed using the tagged-photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors combined to give an almost 4$pi$ solid-angle electromagnetic calorimeter. The reactions were identified by a combined invariant-mass and missing-energy analysis. A comparison of the pion data to plane-wave impulse modelling tests the nuclear mass form factor. So far coherent $eta$-production had been only identified for the lightest nuclear systems ($^2$H and $^3$He). For $^3$He a large enhancement of the cross section above plane-wave approximations had been reported, indicating the formation of a quasi-bound state. The present Li-data for $eta$-production agree with a plane-wave approximation. Contrary to $^3$He, neither a threshold enhancement of the total cross section nor a deviation of the angular distributions from the expected form-factor dependence were observed.
Precise total cross-sections and invariant-mass distributions have been measured for photoproduction of pion pairs off the proton producing $ppi^0pi^0$ and $npi^+pi^0$ final states from the threshold region up to 800 MeV incident photon energy. Addit
ionally, beam helicity asymmetries have been measured in the second resonance region (550 MeV - 820 MeV). The experiment was performed at the tagged photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors combined to give an almost 4$pi$ solid-angle electromagnetic calorimeter. The results are much more precise than any previous measurements and confirm the chiral perturbation theory predictions for the threshold behavior of these reactions. In the second resonance region, the invariant-mass distributions of meson-meson and meson-nucleon pairs are in reasonable agreement with model predictions, but none of the models reproduce the asymmetries for the mixed-charge channel.
Coherent photoproduction of $eta$-mesons off $^3$He, i.e. the reaction $gamma ^3{He}rightarrow eta ^3{He}$, has been investigated in the near-threshold region. The experiment was performed at the Glasgow tagged photon facility of the Mainz MAMI accel
erator with the combined Crystal Ball - TAPS detector. Angular distributions and the total cross section were measured using the $etarightarrow gammagamma$ and $etarightarrow 3pi^0rightarrow 6gamma$ decay channels. The observed extremely sharp rise of the cross section at threshold and the behavior of the angular distributions are evidence for a strong $eta {^3{He}}$ final state interaction, pointing to the existence of a resonant state. The search for further evidence of this state in the excitation function of $pi^0$-proton back-to-back emission in the $gamma ^3{He}rightarrow pi^0 pX$ reaction revealed a very complicated structure of the background and could not support previous conclusions.
