Measurement of the cross section for hard exclusive Muoproduction on the Proton

We report on a measurement of hard exclusive π0 muoproduction on the proton by COMPASS using 160GeV/c polarised μ+ and μ− beams of the CERN SPS impinging on a liquid hydrogen target. From the average of the measured μ+ and μ− cross sections, the virtual-photon proton cross section is determined as a function of the squared four-momentum transfer between initial and final proton in the range 0.08(GeV/c)2<|t|<0.64(GeV/c)2. The average kinematics of the measurement are 〈Q2〉=2.0(GeV/c)2, 〈ν〉=12.8GeV, 〈xBj〉=0.093 and 〈−t〉=0.256(GeV/c)2. Fitting the azimuthal dependence reveals a combined contribution by transversely and longitudinally polarised photons of (8.2±0.9stat−1.2+1.2|sys)nb/(GeV/c)2, as well as transverse-transverse and longitudinal-transverse interference contributions of (−6.1±1.3stat−0.7+0.7|sys)nb/(GeV/c)2 and (1.5±0.5stat−0.2+0.3|sys)nb/(GeV/c)2, respectively. Our results provide important input for modelling Generalised Parton Distributions. In the context of the phenomenological Goloskokov-Kroll model, the statistically significant transverse-transverse interference contribution constitutes clear experimental evidence for the chiral-odd GPD E‾T.