Measurement of Born cross sections for $e^+e^-\to p\bar p$ at $\sqrt{s} =3.510-4.946$ GeV

Abstract

We report a measurement of the Born cross section and the effective form factor for the $e^+e^-\to p\bar{p}$ reaction at 47 center-of-mass energies between 3.510 and 4.946 GeV. The measurement is performed using the energy-scan technique and is based on data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 26 fb\(^{-1}\) collected with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider. For the first time, the moduli of the electromagnetic form factor ratio $|G_{E}/G_{M}|$ and of the magnetic form factor $|G_{M}|$ are determined with high precision by analyzing the distribution of the polar angle of the proton at a large timelike momentum transfer. These results provide essential insights into the nature of charmonium(-like) states above the open-charm threshold and the dynamics underlying the proton electromagnetic form factors.