Study of the pion trajectory in the photoproduction of leading neutrons at HERA

Energetic neutrons produced in ep collisions at HERA have been studied with the ZEUS detector in the photoproduction regime at a mean photonproton center-of-mass energy of 220 GeV. The neutrons carry a large fraction 0.6 < xL < 0.925 of the incoming proton energy, and the fourmomentum-transfer squared at the proton-neutron vertex is small, |t| < 0.425 GeV. The xL distribution of the neutrons is measured in bins of t. The (1 − xL) distributions in the t bins studied satisfy a power law dN/dxL ∝ (1 − xL), with the powers a(t) following a linear function of t: a(t) = 1.08± 0.08(stat.) −0.28(syst.)− (2.78± 0.32(stat.) −0.47(syst.) GeV)t. This result is consistent with the expectations of pion-exchange models, in which the incoming proton fluctuates to a neutron-pion state, and the electron interacts with the pion. The ZEUS Collaboration S. Chekanov, M. Derrick, D. Krakauer, J.H. Loizides, S. Magill, S. Miglioranzi, B. Musgrave, J. Repond, R. Yoshida Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439-4815, USA n M.C.K. Mattingly Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104-0380, USA P. Antonioli, G. Bari, M. Basile, L. Bellagamba, D. Boscherini, A. Bruni, G. Bruni, G. Cara Romeo, L. Cifarelli, F. Cindolo, A. Contin, M. Corradi, S. De Pasquale, P. Giusti, G. Iacobucci, A. Margotti, A. Montanari, R. Nania, F. Palmonari, A. Pesci, G. Sartorelli, A. Zichichi University and INFN Bologna, Bologna, Italy e G. Aghuzumtsyan, D. Bartsch, I. Brock, S. Goers, H. Hartmann, E. Hilger, P. Irrgang, H.-P. Jakob, O. Kind, U. Meyer, E. Paul, J. Rautenberg, R. Renner, A. Stifutkin, J. Tandler, K.C. Voss, M. Wang Physikalisches Institut der Universität Bonn, Bonn, Germany b D.S. Bailey, N.H. Brook, J.E. Cole, G.P. Heath, T. Namsoo, S. Robins, M. Wing H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom m M. Capua, A. Mastroberardino, M. Schioppa, G. Susinno Calabria University, Physics Department and INFN, Cosenza, Italy e J.Y. Kim, I.T. Lim, K.J. Ma, M.Y. Pac Chonnam National University, Kwangju, South Korea g A. Caldwell, M. Helbich, X. Liu, B. Mellado, Y. Ning, S. Paganis, Z. Ren, W.B. Schmidke, F. Sciulli Nevis Laboratories, Columbia University, Irvington on Hudson, New York 10027 o J. Chwastowski, A. Eskreys, J. Figiel, A. Galas, K. Olkiewicz, P. Stopa, L. Zawiejski Institute of Nuclear Physics, Cracow, Poland i L. Adamczyk, T. Bo ld, I. Grabowska-Bo ld, D. Kisielewska, A.M. Kowal, M. Kowal, J. Lukasik, M. Przybycień, L. Suszycki, D. Szuba, J. Szuba Faculty of Physics and Nuclear Techniques, AGH-University of Science and Technology, Cracow, Poland p A. Kotański, W. S lomiński Department of Physics, Jagellonian University, Cracow, Poland