Theoretical Analysis of the $p \bar{p}\rightarrow \pi^0 e^+ e^-$ Process within a Regge Framework

Abstract

We study the annihilation process $p\bar{p} \to \pi^0 e^+ e^-$ within a Regge framework, as a means to provide constraints on timelike nucleon form factors. We present results for the $e^+e^-$ angular distributions and the differential cross sections in kinematics which will be accessible by PANDA@FAIR. To check the consistency of the model, we first test the approach on the process of real photon production, $\bar{p} p \to \pi^0 \gamma$, where data in the energy range of 2.911 GeV$\leq\sqrt{s} \leq 3.686$ GeV exist. We find that a Regge pole model is able to well reproduce the available data. The analysis is then extended to a timelike virtual photon in the final state.