The Beam-Helicity Asymmetry for Two Pseudoscalar Mesons in Photoproduction and a Partial Wave Analysis for Excited Hyperons

Authors

Rafael A. Badui, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Physics

First Advisor's Name

Lei Guo

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Co-chair

Second Advisor's Name

Brian Raue

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Co-chair

Third Advisor's Name

Oren V. Maxwell

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Tedi Draghici

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Mirroslav Yotov

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

nuclear physics, hadron spectroscopy, baryon spectroscopy, polarization observable, helicity asymmetry, partial wave analysis, CLAS, Jefferson lab, photoproduction, kaon, pion, hyperon, hyperon spectroscopy, pseudoscalar mesons

Date of Defense

6-24-2016

Abstract

The first-time measurement of the angular dependence of the beam-helicity asymmetry for $\gamma p \rightarrow pK^{+}K^{-}$ is shown and compared to $\gamma p \rightarrow p\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$. The data obtained were from the CLAS g12 experiment at Jefferson Lab. The experiment utilized a beam of circularly polarized photons with energies between 1.1 and 5.4 GeV incident on an unpolarized liquid hydrogen target, which produced an unprecedented number of strange hadrons in photoproduction. The production mechanism for strange hadrons is not well understood. The beam-helicity asymmetry is a polarization observable that provides information on interfering production mechanisms in the reaction. It is shown that the asymmetry is sensitive to several kinematic variables that are key in modeling the reaction dynamics. Furthermore, the comparison of the beam-helicity asymmetry between the kaon and pion channels serves as a platform for the investigation of flavor dependence. A partial wave analysis on the $pK^{-}$ system is also performed in a search for missing hyperon excitations.

Identifier

FIDC000736

Recommended Citation

Badui, Rafael A., "The Beam-Helicity Asymmetry for Two Pseudoscalar Mesons in Photoproduction and a Partial Wave Analysis for Excited Hyperons" (2016). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2585.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2585