Vector dominance and forward photoproduction of charged pions

Abstract

The validity of vector-meson dominance (VMD) relations between photon-initiated reactions and vector-meson-initiated reactions is investiagted within the framework of realistic models for high-energy exchange reactions. The models suggest that the VMD relations should be valid at high enough energy, in the helicity frame. In particular the narrow forward structure that has been found in photon initiated reactions should be found also in the analogous hadron reactions, at high enough energy.