Coherent photoproduction of a [formula omitted]-meson on a tensor-polarized deuteron at large momentum transfer

Abstract

Measured values of the tensor analyzing power T20 for the coherent photoproduction of a π0-meson on a deuteron are analyzed in the region of large momentum transfer. The incident photons of the photoproduction reaction γd→dπ0 are the quasi-real virtual photons arising from the electron scattering in the electroproduction reaction ed→edπ0. The kinematic region of large momentum transfer is of particular interest, as it corresponds to small inter-nucleon distances in the deuteron. In this case, the amplitude of the process under study is noticeably sensitive to both the deuteron wave function at small inter-nucleon distances and the various model uncertainties arising from the description of the process for large momentum transfer. A comparison shows a significant discrepancy between the experimental data and the predictions from a number of theoretical models.