Global Data-Driven Determination of Baryon Transition Form Factors

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Physics
• Particle Physics
• Quantum Chromodynamics

Background:

• Hadronic resonances are crucial for understanding the strong interaction dynamics of quarks and gluons.
• Transition form factors, probed by virtual photons, reveal the internal structure of these resonances.

Purpose of the Study:

• To extract N* and Delta transition form factors at the pole for twelve states.
• To analyze a large dataset of πN, ηN, and KΛ electroproduction data simultaneously.
• To provide new estimates for higher excited states' transition form factors.

Main Methods:

• Simultaneous analysis of approximately 10^5 πN, ηN, and KΛ electroproduction data points.
• Utilizing ~5x10^4 hadronic sector and photoproduction data as boundary conditions.
• Examining photon virtuality (Q^2) from 0 to 8 GeV^2 and center-of-mass energy from πN threshold to 1.8 GeV.

Main Results:

• Extracted twelve N* and Delta transition form factors at the pole.
• Results show qualitative agreement with previous studies for Δ(1232) and N(1440) states.
• Provided first-time estimates for transition form factors of higher excited states.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully determined transition form factors for multiple hadronic resonance states.
• New data on higher excited states advances the understanding of strong interaction physics.
• Realistic uncertainties were established through comprehensive parameter space exploration.