Electroproduction ofπ0— a Crucial Test of Dip Mechanisms

Abstract

Dips in differential cross sections of inelastic hadronic reactions may be caused by nonsense zeros or by geometrical effects. A direct way of resolving this question is to change the interaction in a reaction, while keeping all other parameters fixed, and to see whether the dips move. The radius of a virtual spacelike photon has been predicted to change with its mass. If this is verified (e.g., in ${\ensuremath{\rho}}^{0}$ electroproduction), a study of the dip in ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0}$ electroproduction should decide between the two schools of dip mechanisms.