Spin density matrix elements in exclusive ρ 0 electroproduction on 1H and 2H targets at 27.5 GeV beam energy

A Airapetian,G Schnell,D Zeiler,N Pickert,A Mussgiller,G Elbakian,D Gabbert,U Elschenbroich,F Giordano,A Rostomyan,P Di Nezza,C Shearer,M Statera,J Streit,M Demey,S Yen,D Hasch,H Böttcher,T Keri,D Ryckbosch,P E Reimer,H Ye,F Garibaldi,B Zihlmann,J Rubin,B Maiheu,A R Reolon,J Stewart,Y Van Haarlem,M Tytgat,B Tchuiko,L Felawka,Y Miyachi,W Yu,M Hoek,T Kobayashi,G Gavrilov,Y Naryshkin,W Deconinck,I Hristova,A Andrus,A Hillenbrand,A Ivanilov,O Grebeniouk,V Mexner,M Stancari,V Vikhrov,B Hommez,C Hadjidakis,H Marukyan,I Sanjiev,E Kinney,J E Steffens,I Vilardi,M Murray,V Shutov,V Bryzgalov,C Riedl,L Lagamba,M Varanda,V Kozlov,A Kisselev,A Brüll,P Liebing,W Lorenzon,V Gharibyan,K P Schüler,A Avetissian,S Yaschenko,A Reischl,R Avakian,L L Pappalardo,Z Akopov,G P Capitani,G Gapienko,J J M Steijger,S Wang,M Contalbrigo,D Reggiani,G Iarygin,R Lamb,F Ellinghaus,P Kravchenko,C A Miller,Y Holler,S Gliske,Y Imazu,L Lapikás,M Capiluppi,Y Ye,Y Salomatin,W Augustyniak,T Hasegawa,R Kaiser,S Frullani,G Rosner,S Belostotski,C Bonomo,M Diefenthaler,P Tait,H Stenzel,A Vandenbroucke,I M Gregor,W.-D Nowak,A Terkulov,E Nappi,V G Krivokhijine,F Stinzing,M Kopytin,Z Ye,Y Mao,D Veretennikov,M Hartig,J Dreschler,E Cisbani,A Funel,V Muccifora,A Elalaoui-Moulay,N Bianchi,E C Aschenauer,E De Sanctis,S E Rock,R Fabbri,A Nass,G Hill,M Negodaev,E Avetissian,P Lenisa,B Seitz,G Ciullo,A Fantoni,S Taroian,I Lehmann,A Izotov,A Jgoun,L De Nardo,M Düren,L A Linden-Levy,C Van Hulse,A Borissov,H E Jackson,M Ehrenfried,A Trzciński ,A.m Osborne ,Andreas Schäfer ,B Mariański ,Bo-Qiang Ma ,Christian Vogel ,G Van Der Steenhoven ,H Güler ,H.p Blok ,Klaus Rith ,L Rubáček ,Martin Raithel ,P B Van Der Nat ,R Pérez-Benito ,Shaojun Lu ,T A Shibata ,W.h.a Hesselink ,X R Lu ,А Нагайцев ,В А Гапиенко ,В А Коротков ,Н Акопов ,Р Де Лео ,P Dalpiaz ,S I Manaenkov ,N Makins ,P Żuprański

doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-009-1082-3

Abstract

Spin Density Matrix Elements (SDMEs) describing the angular distribution of exclusive ρ0 electroproduction and decay are determined in the HERMES experiment with 27.6 GeV beam energy and unpolarized hydrogen and deuterium targets. Eight (fifteen) SDMEs that are related (unrelated) to the longitudinal polarization of the beam are extracted in the kinematic region 1<Q2<7 GeV2, 3.0<W<6.3 GeV, and −t<0.4 GeV2. Within the given experimental uncertainties, a hierarchy of relative sizes of helicity amplitudes is observed. Kinematic dependences of all SDMEs on Q2 and t are presented, as well as the longitudinal-to-transverse ρ0 electroproduction cross-section ratio as a function of Q2. A small but statistically significant deviation from the hypothesis of s-channel helicity conservation is observed. An indication is seen of a contribution of unnatural-parity-exchange amplitudes; these amplitudes are naturally generated with a quark-exchange mechanism.

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