Exclusive η electroproduction at W>2 GeV with CLAS and transversity generalized parton distributions

Abstract

© 2017 American Physical Society. The cross section of the exclusive η electroproduction reaction ep→e′p′η was measured at Jefferson Laboratory with a 5.75 GeV electron beam and the CLAS detector. Differential cross sections d4σ/dtdQ2dxBdφη and structure functions σU=σT+ϵσL,σTT, and σLT, as functions of t, were obtained over a wide range of Q2 and xB. The η structure functions are compared with those previously measured for π0 at the same kinematics. At low t, both π0 and η are described reasonably well by generalized parton distributions (GPDs) in which chiral-odd transversity GPDs are dominant. The π0 and η data, when taken together, can facilitate the flavor decomposition of the transversity GPDs.