Photoproduction of Rho Mesons from Complex Nuclei at 9 BeV

Abstract

We have measured the absolute differential cross section for photoproduction of neutral rho mesons from complex nuclei at a photon energy of 8.8 BeV. Using a two-parameter optical model, we have deduced a value for the total rho-nucleon cross section of ${30}_{\ensuremath{-}4}^{+6}$ mb. Application of the vector-dominance model results in a value for the rho-photon coupling of $\frac{\ensuremath{\gamma}_{\ensuremath{\rho}}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}}{4\ensuremath{\pi}}=1.1\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2$.