Q 2 dependence of diffractive ρ meson electroproduction

Abstract

The Q2 dependence of diffractive ρ meson electroproduction has been analyzed in the present paper. This dependence arises from the virtual photon–vector meson–reggeon vertex that is represented by a triangle of a quark loop. Integration over the quark loop produces a form involving a Spence function that is symmetric in the external masses connected to the triangle. In the Regge model, the vertex is considered a residue of the Regge pole. As the parameterization of the Regge residue is given by an exponential function of t times the residue at t=0 then, the vertex is reduced to an elementary function. Two pomeron models have also been adopted in the analysis. A reasonable agreement with the data has been achieved.