Measurements of the meson-photon transition form factors of light pseudoscalar mesons at large momentum transfer

Abstract

Using the CLEO II detector, we have measured the differential cross sections for exclusive two-photon production of light pseudoscalar mesons ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0},$ \ensuremath{\eta}, and ${\ensuremath{\eta}}^{\ensuremath{'}}.$ From our measurements we have obtained the form factors associated with the electromagnetic transitions ${\ensuremath{\gamma}}^{*}\stackrel{\ensuremath{\rightarrow}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}\mathrm{meson}.$ We have measured these form factors in the momentum transfer ranges from 1.5 to 9, 20, and $30{\mathrm{GeV}}^{2}$ for ${\ensuremath{\pi}}^{0},$ \ensuremath{\eta}, and ${\ensuremath{\eta}}^{\ensuremath{'}},$ respectively, and have made comparisons to various theoretical predictions.