Abstract
A search for contributions to the reaction ep → eπ0N* from photon-odderon fusion in the photoproduction regime at HERA is reported, at an average photon-proton centre-of-mass energy (W) = 215 GeV. The measurement proceeds via detection of the π0 decay photons, a leading neutron from the N* decay, and the scattered electron. No π0 signal is observed and an upper limit on the cross section for the photon-odderon fusion process of σ(γp → π0N*) < 49 nb at the 95% confidence level is derived, integrated over the experimentally accessible range of the squared four-momentum transfer at the nucleon vertex 0.02 < |t| < 0.3 GeV2. This excludes a recent prediction from a calculation based on a non-perturbative QCD model of a photon-odderon fusion cross section above 200 nb.
| Original language | English |
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| Pages (from-to) | 35-43 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics |
| Volume | 544 |
| Issue number | 1-2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 19 Sept 2002 |