The spin polarizabilities of the nucleon describe how the spin of the nucleon responds to an incident polarized photon. The most model-independent way to extract the nucleon spin polarizabilities is ...through polarized Compton scattering. Double-polarized Compton scattering asymmetries on the proton were measured in the Δ(1232) region using circularly polarized incident photons and a transversely polarized proton target at the Mainz Microtron. Fits to asymmetry data were performed using a dispersion model calculation and a baryon chiral perturbation theory calculation, and a separation of all four proton spin polarizabilities in the multipole basis was achieved. The analysis based on a dispersion model calculation yields γ(E1E1)=-3.5±1.2, γ(M1M1)=3.16±0.85, γ(E1M2)=-0.7±1.2, and γ(M1E2)=1.99±0.29, in units of 10(-4) fm(4).
We present new data for the transverse target asymmetry T and the very first data for the beam-target asymmetry F in the γover →pover →→ηp reaction up to a center-of-mass energy of W=1.9 GeV. The ...data were obtained with the Crystal-Ball/TAPS detector setup at the Glasgow tagged photon facility of the Mainz Microtron MAMI. All existing model predictions fail to reproduce the new data indicating a significant impact on our understanding of the underlying dynamics of η meson photoproduction. The peculiar nodal structure observed in existing T data close to threshold is not confirmed.
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.
Beam-helicity asymmetries have been measured at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz in the three isospin channels gammaover -->p-->pi(+)pi(0)n, gammaover -->p-->pi(0)pi(0)p, and gammaover ...-->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.
A precision measurement of the differential cross sections dσ/dΩ and the linearly polarized photon asymmetry Σ≡(dσ⊥-dσ∥)/(dσ⊥+dσ∥) for the γp→π0p reaction in the near-threshold region has been ...performed with a tagged photon beam and almost 4π detector at the Mainz Microtron. The Glasgow-Mainz photon tagging facility along with the Crystal Ball/TAPS multiphoton detector system and a cryogenic liquid hydrogen target were used. These data allowed for a precise determination of the energy dependence of the real parts of the S- and all three P-wave amplitudes for the first time and provide the most stringent test to date of the predictions of chiral perturbation theory and its energy region of agreement with experiment.
The Dalitz decay η→γe+e− has been measured using the combined Crystal Ball and TAPS photon detector setup at the electron accelerator MAMI-C. Compared to the most recent transition form-factor ...measurement in the e+e− channel, statistics have been improved by one order of magnitude. The e+e− invariant mass distribution shows a deviation from the QED prediction for a point-like particle, which can be described by a form-factor. Using the usual monopole transition form-factor parameterization, F(m2)=(1−m2/Λ2)−1, a value of Λ−2=(1.92±0.35(stat)±0.13(syst)) GeV−2 has been determined. This value is in good agreement with a recent measurement of the η Dalitz decay in the μ+μ− channel and with recent form-factor calculations. An improved value of the branching ratio BR(η→γe+e−)=(6.6±0.4(stat)±0.4(syst))⋅10−3 has been determined.
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.