Theory of Pion Photoproduction in ¹²C and ¹⁶O

Abstract

In a previous communication,¹ we presented a calculation of the total cross section for π⁻ photoproduction in ¹²C leading to the ground state of ¹²N. This theory was based on the elementary interaction Hamiltonian of Berends., ² with the nuclear transition density being described by a Helm model fitted to inelastic electron scattering data. The distortion of the pion wave function was obtained from an optical potential as available at that time. The results were compared with experimental data near threshold by Bernstein.,³ and at higher energies by Epaneshnikov., and were found too low compared to the former, and too high compared to the latter. Here we present improved calculations which lead to considerably better agreement with both the threshold and the high-energy data.

Supported by the National Science Foundation.