Differential and total cross sections for the quasifree reactions γp → ηp and γn → ηn have been determined at the MAMI-C electron accelerator using a liquid deuterium target. Photons were produced via bremsstrahlung from the 1.5 GeV incident electron beam and energy-tagged with the Glasgow photon tagger. Decay photons of the neutral decay modes η → 2γ and η → 3π 0 → 6γ and coincident recoil nucleons were detected in a combined setup of the Crystal Ball and the TAPS calorimeters. The η-production cross sections were measured in coincidence with recoil protons, recoil neutrons, and in an inclusive mode without a condition on recoil nucleons, which allowed a check of the internal consistency of the data. The effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the final-state invariant mass and possible nuclear effects on the quasifree cross section were investigated by a comparison of free and quasifree proton data. The results, which represent a significant improvement in statistical quality compared to previous measurements, agree with the known neutron-to-proton cross-section ratio in the peak of the S11(1535) resonance and confirm a peak in the neutron cross section, which is absent for the proton, at a center-of-mass energy W = (1670 ± 5) MeV with an intrinsic width of Γ ≈ 30 MeV.

The photoproduction of η-mesons off nucleons bound in 2 H and 3 He has been measured in coincidence with recoil protons and recoil neutrons for incident photon energies from threshold up to 1.4 GeV. The experiments were performed at the Mainz MAMI accelerator, using the Glasgow tagged photon facility. Decay photons from the η → 2γ and η → 3π 0 decays and the recoil nucleons were detected with an almost 4π electromagnetic calorimeter combining the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. The data from both targets are of excellent statistical quality and show a narrow structure in the excitation function of γn → nη. The results from the two measurements are consistent taking into account the expected effects from nuclear Fermi motion. The best estimates for position and intrinsic width of the structure are W = (1670±5) MeV and Γ = (30±15) MeV. For the first time precise results for the angular dependence of this structure have been extracted.

The reactions γp → ηp and γp → η 0 p are measured from their thresholds up to the center-of-mass energy W ¼ 1.96 GeV with the tagged-photon facilities at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. Differential cross sections are obtained with unprecedented statistical accuracy, providing fine energy binning and full production-angle coverage. A strong cusp is observed in the total cross section for η photoproduction at the energies in the vicinity of the η 0 threshold, W ¼ 1896 MeV (E γ ¼ 1447 MeV). Within the framework of a revised ηMAID isobar model, the cusp, in connection with a steep rise of the η 0 total cross section from its threshold, can only be explained by a strong coupling of the poorly known Nð1895Þ1=2 − state to both ηp and η 0 p. Including the new high-accuracy results in the ηMAID fit to available η and η 0 photoproduction data allows the determination of the Nð1895Þ1=2 − properties.

Precise angular distributions have been measured for the first time for the photoproduction of π0 mesons off neutrons bound in the deuteron. The effects from nuclear Fermi motion have been eliminated by a complete kinematic reconstruction of the final state. The influence of final-state-interaction effects has been estimated by a comparison of the reaction cross section for quasifree protons bound in the deuteron to the results for free protons and then applied as a correction to the quasifree neutron data. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon facility of the Mainz Microtron MAMI with the Crystal Ball and TAPS detector setup for incident photon energies between 0.45 and 1.4 GeV. The results are compared to the predictions from reaction models and partial-wave analyses based on data from other isospin channels. The model predictions show large discrepancies among each other and the present data will provide much tighter constraints. This is demonstrated by the results of a new analysis in the framework of the Bonn-Gatchina coupled-channel analysis which included the present data.

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Measurement of the ω → π 0 e + e − and η → e + e − γ Dalitz decays with the A2 setup at MAMI The Dalitz decays η → e + e − γ and ω → π 0 e + e − have been measured in the γp → ηp and γp → ωp reactions, respectively, with the A2 tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. The value obtained for the slope parameter of the electromagnetic transition form factor of η, Λ −2 η = (1.97 ± 0.11tot ) GeV −2 , is in good agreement with previous measurements of the η → e + e − γ and η → µ + µ − γ decays. The uncertainty obtained in the value of Λ −2 η is lower than in previous results based on the η → e + e − γ decay. The value obtained for the ω slope parameter, Λ −2 ωπ 0 = (1.99 ± 0.21tot) GeV −2 , is somewhat lower than previous measurements based on ω → π 0 µ + µ − , but the results for the ω transition form factor are in better agreement with theoretical calculations, compared to earlier experiments.

The double polarization observable E and the helicity dependent cross sections σ 1=2 and σ 3=2 were measured for η photoproduction from quasifree protons and neutrons. The circularly polarized tagged photon beam of the A2 experiment at the Mainz MAMI accelerator was used in combination with a longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target. The almost 4π detector setup of the Crystal Ball and TAPS is ideally suited to detect the recoil nucleons and the decay photons from η → 2γ and η → 3π 0 . The results show that the narrow structure previously observed in η photoproduction from the neutron is only apparent in σ 1=2 and hence, most likely related to a spin-1=2 amplitude. Nucleon resonances that contribute to this partial wave in η production are only N1=2 − (S 11 ) and N 1=2 þ (P 11 ). Furthermore, the extracted Legendre coefficients of the angular distributions for σ 1=2 are in good agreement with recent reaction model predictions assuming a narrow resonance in the P 11 wave as the origin of this structure.

Abstract. Beam-helicity asymmetries have been measured at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz for the photoproduction of mixed-charge pion pairs in the reactions γp → nπ 0 π + off free protons and γd → (p)pπ 0 π − and γd → (n)nπ 0 π + off quasi-free nucleons bound in the deuteron for incident photon energies up to 1.4 GeV. Circularly polarized photons were produced from bremsstrahlung of longitudinally polarized electrons and tagged with the Glasgow-Mainz magnetic spectrometer. The charged pions, recoil protons, recoil neutrons, and decay photons from π 0 mesons were detected in the 4π electromagnetic calorimeter composed of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. Using a complete kinematic reconstruction of the final state, excellent agreement was found between the results for free and quasi-free protons, suggesting that the quasi-free neutron results are also a close approximation of the free-neutron asymmetries. A comparison of the results to the predictions of the Two-Pion-MAID reaction model shows that the reaction mechanisms are still not well understood, in particular at low incident photon energies in the second nucleon-resonance region.a