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We present measurements of the total and differential cross sections for near-threshold $J/\psi$photoproduction obtained with the CLAS12 detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The results are based on data collected during the fall 2018 and spring 2019 running periods, using electron beams with energies of 10.6 and 10.2 GeV, respectively, scattered off a liquid-hydrogen target. Near-threshold $J/\psi$photoproduction offers a unique sensitivity to the strong interaction in the nonperturbative regime of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The energy dependence of the cross section constrains the underlying $J/\psi$production mechanisms, including multigluon exchange and potential baryonic excitations. Additionally, the $t$dependence of the differential cross section can be related to the transverse spatial distribution of gluons in the proton, providing critical input for theoretical descriptions of the gluonic structure of the proton. An interpretation of the results in terms of the gluon content of the proton is presented, providing new experimental constraints on QCD-inspired models of the proton structure and the role of gluonic degrees of freedom in hadronic mass generation. 

The experiment at Jefferson Lab has observed $p\overline{p}$and, for the first time, $\mathrm{\Lambda }\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}$and $p\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}$photoproduction from a proton target at photon energies up to 11.6 GeV. The angular distributions are forward peaked for all produced pairs, consistent with Regge-like $t$-channel exchange. Asymmetric wide-angle antibaryon distributions show the presence of additional processes. In a phenomenological model, we find consistency with a double- $t$-channel exchange process where antibaryons are created only at the middle vertex. The model matches all observed distributions with a small number of free parameters. In the hyperon channels, we observe a clear distinction between photoproduction of the $\mathrm{\Lambda }\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}$and $p\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}$systems but general similarity to the $p\overline{p}$system. We report both total cross sections and cross sections differential with respect to momentum transfer and the invariant masses of the created particle pairs. No narrow resonant structures were found in these reaction channels. The suppression of $s\overline{s}$quark pairs relative to $d\overline{d}$quark pairs is similar to what has been seen in other reactions. 

Measurements of the polarization observables $\mathrm{\Sigma },\mathbf{P},\mathbf{T},{\mathbf{O}}_{\mathbf{x}},{\mathbf{O}}_{\mathbf{z}}$for the reaction $\vec{\gamma }p\to K_S^0{\mathrm{\Sigma }}^{+}$using a linearly polarized photon beam of energy 1.1 to 2.1 GeV are reported. The measured data provide information on a channel that has not been studied extensively, but is required for a full coupled-channel analysis in the nucleon resonance region. Observables have been simultaneously extracted using likelihood sampling with a Markov-Chain Monte Carlo process. Angular distributions in bins of photon energy $E_{\gamma }$are produced for each polarization observable. $\mathbf{T},{\mathbf{O}}_{\mathbf{x}}$, and ${\mathbf{O}}_{\mathbf{z}}$are first time measurements of these observables in this reaction. The extraction of $\mathrm{\Sigma }$extends the energy range beyond a previous measurement. The measurement of $\mathbf{P}$, the recoil polarization, is consistent with previous measurements. The measured data are shown to be significant enough to affect the estimation of the nucleon resonance parameters when fitted within a coupled-channels model. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

American Physics Society 

The GlueX experiment at Jefferson Lab studies photoproduction of mesons using linearly polarized 8.5GeV photons impinging on a hydrogen target which is contained within a detector with near-complete coverage for charged and neutral particles. We present measurements of spin-density matrix elements for the photoproduction of the vector meson 𝜌(770). The statistical precision achieved exceeds that of previous experiments for polarized photoproduction in this energy range by orders of magnitude. We confirm a high degree of 𝑠-channel helicity conservation at small squared four-momentum transfer 𝑡 and are able to extract the 𝑡 dependence of natural- and unnatural-parity exchange contributions to the production process in detail. We confirm the dominance of natural-parity exchange over the full 𝑡 range. We also find that helicity amplitudes in which the helicity of the incident photon and the photoproduced 𝜌⁡(770) differ by two units are negligible for −𝑡<0.5GeV2/𝑐2.