$ω- πγ^*$ transition form factor in proton-proton collisions

Abstract

Dalitz decays of $ω$ and $ρ$ mesons, $ω\to π^0γ^*\toπ^0 e^+e^-$ and $ρ^0\to π^0γ^*\toπ^0 e^+e^-$, produced in $pp$ collisions are calculated within a covariant effective meson-nucleon theory. We argue that the $ω$ transition form factor $F_{ω\to π^0γ^*}$ is experimentally accessible in a fairly model independent way in the reaction $pp \to pp π^0 e^+ e^-$ for invariant masses of the $π^0 e^+ e^-$ subsystem near the $ω$ pole. Numerical results are presented for the intermediate energy kinematics of envisaged HADES experiments.