Cross sections and beam asymmetry for K;{+}Sigma;{*-} photoproduction from the deuteron at E_{gamma}=1.5-2.4 GeV

Phys Rev Lett. 2009 Jan 9;102(1):012501. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.012501. Epub 2009 Jan 5.

Abstract

The Sigma(1385) resonance, or Sigma;{*}, is well known as part of the standard baryon decuplet with spin J=3/2. Measurements of the reaction gammap-->K;{+}Sigma;{*0} are difficult to extract due to overlap with the nearby Lambda(1405) resonance. However, the reaction gamman-->K;{+}Sigma;{*-} has no overlap with the Lambda(1405) due to its charge. Here we report the first measurement of cross sections and beam asymmetries for photoproduction of the Sigma;{*-} from a deuteron target. The cross sections at forward angles range from 0.4 to 1.2 mub, with a broad maximum near E_{gamma} approximately 1.8 GeV. The beam asymmetries are negative, in contrast with positive values for the gamman-->K;{+}Sigma;{-} reaction.