New Results from the Studies of the $N(1440)1/2^+$, $N(1520)3/2^-$, and $Δ(1620)1/2^-$ Resonances in Exclusive $ep \to e'p' π^+ π^-$ Electroproduction with the CLAS Detector

Abstract

The transition helicity amplitudes from the proton ground state to the $N(1440)1/2^+$, $N(1520)3/2^-$, and $Δ(1620)1/2^-$ resonances ($γ_vpN^*$ electrocouplings) were determined from the analysis of nine independent one-fold differential $π^+ π^- p$ electroproduction cross sections off a proton target, taken with CLAS at photon virtualities 0.5 GeV$^2$ $< Q^2 <$ 1.5 GeV$^2$. The phenomenological reaction model employed for separation of the resonant and non-resonant contributions to this exclusive channel was further developed. The $N(1440)1/2^+$, $N(1520)3/2^-$, and $Δ(1620)1/2^-$ electrocouplings were obtained from the resonant amplitudes of charged double-pion electroproduction off the proton in the aforementioned area of photon virtualities for the first time. Consistent results on $γ_vpN^*$ electrocouplings available from independent analyses of several $W$-intervals with different non-resonant contributions offer clear evidence for the reliable extraction of these fundamental quantities. These studies also improved the knowledge on hadronic branching ratios for the $N(1440)1/2^+$, $N(1520)3/2^-$, and $Δ(1620)1/2^-$ decays to the $πΔ$ and $ρN$ final states. These new results provide a substantial impact on the QCD-based approaches that describe the $N^*$ structure and demonstrate the capability to explore fundamental ingredients of the non-perturbative strong interaction that are behind the excited nucleon state formation.

the paper submitted to Phys. Rev. C, the updated version in response to the referee comments, fixing typo. extension of the previous work published in arXiv:1205.3948