Search

The reactions γp→ηp and γp→η^{'}p are measured from their thresholds up to the center-of-mass energy W=1.96  GeV with the tagged-photon facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. Differential cross sections are obtained with unprecedented statistical accuracy, providing fine energy binning and full production-angle coverage. A strong cusp is observed in the total cross section for η photoproduction at the energies in the vicinity of the η^{'} threshold, W=1896  MeV (E_{γ}=1447  MeV). Within the framework of a revised ηMAID isobar model, the cusp, in connection with a steep rise of the η^{'} total cross section from its threshold, can only be explained by a strong coupling of the poorly known N(1895)1/2^{-} state to both ηp and η^{'}p. Including the new high-accuracy results in the ηMAID fit to available η and η^{'} photoproduction data allows the determination of the N(1895)1/2^{-} properties.

Information on the size and shape of the neutron skin on (208)Pb is extracted from coherent pion photoproduction cross sections measured using the Crystal Ball detector together with the Glasgow tagger at the MAMI electron beam facility. On exploitation of an interpolated fit of a theoretical model to the measured cross sections, the half-height radius and diffuseness of the neutron distribution are found to be c(n)=6.70±0.03(stat.)  fm and a(n)=0.55±0.01(stat.)(-0.03)(+0.02)(sys.)  fm, respectively, corresponding to a neutron skin thickness Δr(np)=0.15±0.03(stat.)(-0.03)(+0.01)(sys.)  fm. The results give the first successful extraction of a neutron skin thickness with an electromagnetic probe and indicate that the skin of (208)Pb has a halo character. The measurement provides valuable new constraints on both the structure of nuclei and the equation of state for neutron-rich matter.

Precise angular distributions have been measured for the first time for the photoproduction of π0 mesons off neutrons bound in the deuteron. The effects from nuclear Fermi motion have been eliminated by a complete kinematic reconstruction of the final state. The influence of final-state-interaction effects has been estimated by a comparison of the reaction cross section for quasifree protons bound in the deuteron to the results for free protons and then applied as a correction to the quasifree 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 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.

We report the first large-acceptance measurement of polarization transfer from a polarized photon beam to a recoiling nucleon. The measurement pioneers a novel polarimetry technique, which can be applied to many other nuclear and hadron physics experiments. The commissioning reaction of 1H(γ, p)π0 in the range 0.4

The photoproduction of η mesons off nucleons bound in 2H and 3He 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 η→2γ and η→3π0 decays and the recoil nucleons were detected with an almost 4π 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 γn→nη. 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±5)  MeV and Γ=(30±15)  MeV. For the first time precise results for the angular dependence of this structure have been extracted.

Cross sections for the 3He(e,e' pn)1H reaction were measured for the first time at energy transfers of 220 and 270 MeV for several momentum transfers ranging from 300 to 450 MeV/c. Cross sections are presented as a function of the momentum of the recoil proton and the momentum transfer. Continuum Faddeev calculations using the Argonne V18 and Bonn-B nucleon-nucleon potentials overestimate the measured cross sections by a factor 5 at low recoil proton momentum with the discrepancy becoming smaller at higher recoil proton momentum.

Beam-helicity asymmetries have been measured at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz in the three isospin channels gamma[over -->]p-->pi(+)pi(0)n, gamma[over -->]p-->pi(0)pi(0)p, and gamma[over -->]p-->pi(+)pi(-)p. The circularly polarized photons, produced from bremsstrahlung of longitudinally polarized electrons, were tagged with the Glasgow magnetic spectrometer. Charged pions and the decay photons of pi(0) mesons were detected in a 4pi electromagnetic calorimeter which combined the Crystal Ball detector with the TAPS detector. The precisely measured asymmetries are very sensitive to details of the production processes and are thus key observables in the modeling of the reaction dynamics.

We present the first detailed measurement of incoherent photoproduction of neutral pions to a discrete state of a residual nucleus. The 12C(gamma,pi(0))(12)C*(4.4 MeV) reaction has been studied with the Glasgow photon tagger at MAMI employing a new technique which uses the large solid angle Crystal Ball detector both as a pi(0) spectrometer and to detect decay photons from the excited residual nucleus. The technique has potential applications to a broad range of future nuclear measurements with the Crystal Ball and similar detector systems elsewhere. Such data are sensitive to the propagation of the Delta in the nuclear medium and will give the first information on matter transition form factors from measurements with an electromagnetic probe. The incoherent cross sections are compared to two theoretical predictions including a Delta-hole model.

A measurement of the helicity dependence of the total inclusive photoabsorption cross section on the deuteron was carried out at MAMI (Mainz) in the energy range 200

The photoproduction of eta-mesic 3He has been investigated using the TAPS calorimeter at the Mainz Microtron accelerator facility MAMI. The total inclusive cross section for the reaction gamma3He-->etaX has been measured for photon energies from threshold to 820 MeV. The total and angular differential coherent eta cross sections have been extracted up to energies of 745 MeV. A resonancelike structure just above the eta production threshold with an isotropic angular distribution suggests the existence of a resonant quasibound state. This is supported by studies of a competing decay channel of such a quasibound eta-mesic nucleus into pi(0)pX. A binding energy of (-4.4+/-4.2) MeV and a width of (25.6+/-6.1) MeV is deduced for the quasibound eta-mesic state in 3He.

The reaction gammap-->pi(0)gamma'p has been measured with the TAPS calorimeter at the Mainz Microtron accelerator facility MAMI for energies between sqrt[s]=1221-1331 MeV. The cross section's differential in angle and energy have been determined for the photon gamma' in three bins of the excitation energy. This reaction channel provides access to the magnetic dipole moment of the Delta(+)(1232) resonance and, for the first time, a value of mu(Delta(+))=[2.7(+1.0)(-1.3)(stat)+/-1.5(syst)+/-3(theor)]mu(N) has been extracted.

Differential cross sections of the reactions (gamma,pi(0)pi(0)) and (gamma,pi(0)pi(+/-)) have been measured for several nuclei (1H,12C, and (nat)Pb) at an incident-photon energy of E(gamma)=400-460 MeV at the tagged-photon facility at MAMI-B using the TAPS spectrometer. A significant nuclear-mass dependence of the pipi invariant-mass distribution is found in the pi(0)pi(0) channel. This dependence is not observed in the pi(0)pi(+/-) channel and is consistent with an in-medium modification of the pipi interaction in the I=J=0 channel. The data are compared to pi-induced measurements and to calculations within a chiral-unitary approach.

The helicity dependence of the gamma-->p-->-->ppi(0) reaction has been measured for the first time in the photon-energy range from 550 to 790 MeV. The experiment, performed at the Mainz microtron MAMI, used a 4pi-detector system, a circularly polarized, tagged photon beam, and a longitudinally polarized frozen-spin target. These data are predominantly sensitive to the D13(1520) resonance and are used to determine its helicity amplitudes.

Measuring Compton scattered photons and recoil neutrons in coincidence, quasifree Compton scattering by the neutron has been investigated at MAMI (Mainz) at theta(lab)(gamma) = 136 degrees in an energy range from 200 to 400 MeV. From the data a polarizability difference of alpha(n)-beta(n) = 9.8+/-3.6(stat)+2.1-1.1(syst)+/-2.2(model) in units of 10(-4) fm(3) has been determined. In combination with the polarizability sum alpha(n)+beta(n) = 15.2+/-0.5 deduced from photoabsorption data, the first precise results for the neutron electric and magnetic polarizabilities, alpha(n) = 12.5+/-1.8(stat)+1.1-0.6(syst)+/-1.1(model) and beta(n) = 2.7-/+1.8(stat)+0.6-1.1(syst)-/+1.1(model), are obtained.

The photon asymmetry in the reaction 1H(--> gamma,pi(0))(1)H close to threshold has been measured for the first time with the photon spectrometer TAPS using linearly polarized photons from the tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron MAMI. The total and differential cross sections were also measured simultaneously with the photon asymmetry. This allowed determination of the S-wave and all three P-wave amplitudes. The values obtained at threshold are E(0+) = [-1.33+/-0.08(stat)+/-0.03(syst)] x 10(-3)/m(pi(+)), P(1) = [9.47 +/- 0.08(stat) +/- 0.29(syst)] x 10(-3)q/m(2)(pi(+)), P(2) = [-9.46 +/- 0.1(stat) +/- 0.29(syst)] x 10(-3)q/m(2)(pi(+)), and P(3) = [11.48 +/- 0.06(stat) +/- 0.35(syst)] x 10(-3)q/m(2)(pi(+)).

The in-medium properties of the D13(1520) nucleon resonance were studied via photoproduction of pi(0) mesons from nuclei (C, Ca, Nb, Pb) with the TAPS detector at the Mainz Microton accelerator. The inclusive (single and multiple pion production) data disagree with model predictions which explain the disappearance of the second resonance bump in total photoabsorption via a medium modification of the D13-->Nrho decay. The exclusive single pi(0) production data show no broadening of the resonance structure beyond Fermi smearing. Both results together cast doubt on attempts to explain the vanishing of the second resonance bump for nuclei by a broadening of the D13 resonance.

The helicity dependence of the single pion photoproduction on the proton has been measured in the energy range from 200 to 450 MeV for the first time. The experiment, performed at the Mainz microtron MAMI, used a 4pi-detector system, a circularly polarized, tagged photon beam, and a frozen-spin target. The data obtained provide new information for multipole analyses of pion photoproduction and determine the main contributions to the Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule and the forward spin polarizability gamma(0).