The asymmetry ratio for the process γ + p → n + π + by linearly polarized γ rays are reported for E γ = 200 − 400 MeV and for θ (production angle of π in the c.m. system) = 90°. The experimental results are compared with some recent theoretical predictions.

The total cross sections for pionic charge exchange on hydrogen were measured using a transmission technique on thin CH2 and C targets. Data were taken for pi- lab energies from 39 to 247 MeV with total errors of typically 2% over the Delta-resonance and up to 10% at the lowest energies. Deviations from the predictions of the SAID phase shift analysis in the 60 to 80 MeV region are interpreted as evidence for isospin-symmetry breaking in the s-wave amplitudes. The charge dependence of the Delta-resonance properties appears to be smaller than previously reported.

The reaction gamma p --> K0 Sigma+ was measured in the photon energy range from threshold up to 2.6 GeV with the SAPHIR detector at the electron stretcher facility, ELSA, in Bonn. Results are presented on the reaction cross section and the polarization of the Sigma+ as a function of the kaon production angle in the centre-of-mass system, cos(Theta_K^{c.m.}), and the photon energy. The cross section is lower and varies less with photon energy and kaon production angle than that of gamma p --> K+ Sigma0. The Sigma+ is polarized predominantly at cos(Theta_K^{c.m.}) \approx 0. The data presented here are more precise than previous ones obtained with SAPHIR and extend the photon energy range to higher values. They are compared to isobar model calculations.

Exclusive electroproduction of pi0 mesons on protons in the backward hemisphere has been studied at Q**2 = 1.0 GeV**2 by detecting protons in the forward direction in coincidence with scattered electrons from the 4 GeV electron beam in Jefferson Lab's Hall A. The data span the range of the total (gamma* p) center-of-mass energy W from the pion production threshold to W = 2.0 GeV. The differential cross sections sigma_T+epsilon*sigma_L, sigma_TL, and sigma_TT were separated from the azimuthal distribution and are presented together with the MAID and SAID parametrizations.

Differential cross sections for quasi-free Compton scattering from the proton and neutron bound in the deuteron have been measured using the Glasgow/Mainz tagging spectrometer at the Mainz MAMI accelerator together with the Mainz 48 cm $\oslash$ $\times$ 64 cm NaI(Tl) photon detector and the G\"ottingen SENECA recoil detector. The data cover photon energies ranging from 200 MeV to 400 MeV at $\theta^{LAB}_\gamma=136.2^\circ$. Liquid deuterium and hydrogen targets allowed direct comparison of free and quasi-free scattering from the proton. The neutron detection efficiency of the SENECA detector was measured via the reaction $p(\gamma,\pi^+ n)$. The "free" proton Compton scattering cross sections extracted from the bound proton data are in reasonable agreement with those for the free proton which gives confidence in the method to extract the differential cross section for free scattering from quasi-free data. Differential cross sections on the free neutron have been extracted and the difference of the electromagnetic polarizabilities of the neutron have been obtained to be $\alpha-\beta= 9.8\pm 3.6(stat){}^{2.1}_1.1(syst)\pm 2.2(model)$ in units $10^{-4}fm^3$. In combination with the polarizability sum $\alpha +\beta=15.2\pm 0.5$ deduced from photoabsorption data, the neutron electric and magnetic polarizabilities, $\alpha_n=12.5\pm 1.8(stat){}^{+1.1}_{-0.6}\pm 1.1(model)$ and $\beta_n=2.7\mp 1.8(stat){}^{+0.6}_{-1.1}(syst)\mp 1.1(model)$ are obtained. The backward spin polarizability of the neutron was determined to be $\gamma^{(n)}_\pi=(58.6\pm 4.0)\times 10^{-4}fm^4$.

We report the first measurement of the neutron electric form factor $G_E^n$ via $\vec{d}(\vec{e},e'n)p$ using a solid polarized target. $G_E^n$ was determined from the beam-target asymmetry in the scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons from polarized deuterated ammonia, $^{15}$ND$_3$. The measurement was performed in Hall C at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF) in quasi free kinematics with the target polarization perpendicular to the momentum transfer. The electrons were detected in a magnetic spectrometer in coincidence with neutrons in a large solid angle segmented detector. We find $G_E^n = 0.04632\pm0.00616 (stat.) \pm0.00341 (syst.)$ at $Q^2 = 0.495$ (GeV/c)$^2$.

Differential cross sections for Compton scattering from the free proton at Θ γ ′ lab =130.7° in the energy region from 200 MeV to 410 MeV and for quasi-free Compton scattering from the proton bound in the deuteron at Θ γ ′ lab =148.8° in the energy region from 200 MeV to 290 MeV have been measured. The free proton data are in agreement with dispersion-theory predictions based on standard parameters. The difference of the proton polarizabilities has been extracted from the quasi-free data. Our result, α ̄ − β ̄ =[9.1±1.7( stat+syst )±1.2( mod )]×10 −4 fm 3 , is in reasonable agreement with the world average of the free proton data if the backward spin polarizability γ π is taken to be −37.6×10 −4 fm 4 as predicted by dispersion theory in agreement with many theoretical calculations. This implies that quasi-free Compton scattering may also be used to determine the electromagnetic polarizabilities of the neutron. No indication has been found of a recently suggested new contribution to γ π .

The total photoabsorption cross section for Li7, C, Al, Cu, Sn, Pb has been measured in the energy range 300–1200 MeV at Frascati with the jet-target tagged photon beam. A 4π NaI crystal detector and a lead-glass shower counter were used, respectively, to measure hadronic events and to reject the electromagnetic background. Data above 600 MeV clearly indicate a broadening of higher nucleon resonance peaks in nuclei and a reduction of the absolute value of the cross section per nucleon with respect to the free-nucleon case. This large broadening suggests a strong influence of the nuclear medium in the resonance propagation and interaction, while the systematic reduction of the measured cross sections might be due to a depletion of the resonance excitation strength and to the onset of the shadowing effect around 1 GeV. Moreover, our systematic study indicates that also the Δ-resonance excitation parameters are not the same for all nuclei, being its mass and width increasing with the nuclear density. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

Integral cross sections for π + p interaction have been measured between 125.9 and 201.7 MeV using the transmission method. Over this energy range the results are in very good agreement with predictions made with currently accepted phase shifts. These results are also consistent with similar measurements at lower energies when the dispersion relation constrained Karlsruhe phase shifts are used.

Radiation capture of π − on hydrogen has been measured in the momentum range from p π − = 210 MeV/ c to p π − = 385 MeV/ c and for c.m. angles between 30° and 120°, covering the Δ (1232) resonance. The unambiguous separation of the events from the charge exchange background is based on precise neutron time-of-flight measurements. Detector efficiencies were carefully determined in separate experiments. The experimental results are in good agreement with those of the inverse reaction and with most recent multipole analyses. An upper limit of ±2% can be set on the contribution of the isotensor term to the transition amplitude. A time reversal violating phase, when added to the resonant M 1+ 3 amplitude in the Donnachie-Shaw model, is found to be consistent with zero.