Deeply virtual Compton scattering off nuclei

We consider the hard leptoproduction of a photon off nuclei up to spin-1. As a new result we present here the general azimuthal angular dependence of the differential cross section for a spin-1 target. Its twist-two Fourier coefficients of the interference and squared deeply virtual Compton scattering amplitude are evaluated in leading order approximation of perturbation theory in terms of generalized parton distributions, while the pure Bethe– Heitler cross section is exactly calculated in terms of electromagnetic form factors. Relying on a simple model for the nucleon generalized parton distribution H , which describes the existing DVCS data for a proton target, we estimate the size of unpolarized cross sections, beam and longitudinal target spin as well as unpolarized charge asymmetries for present fixed target experiments with nuclei. These estimates are confronted with preliminary HERMES data for deuterium and neon.