Structure for the breathing mode of the nucleon from high energy p-p scattering

Abstract

Spectra of p-p and pi-p scattering at beam momenta between 6 and 30 GeV/c have been reanalysed. These show strong excitation of N* resonances, the strongest one corresponding to the "scalar" P11 excitation (breathing mode) at m_o= 1400+-10 MeV with Gamma= 200+-25 MeV. The result of a strong scalar excitation is supported by a large longitudinal amplitude S_1/2 extracted from e-p scattering. From exclusive data on p+p=>p p pi+ pi- a large 2pi-N decay branch for the P_11 resonance of B_2pi= 75+-20 % has been extracted. The differential cross sections were described in a double folding approach, assuming multi-gluon exchange as the dominant part of the effective interaction between the constituents of projectile and target. First, the parameters of the interaction were fitted to elastic scattering; then with this interaction the inelastic cross sections were described in the distorted wave Born approximation. A good description of the data requires a surface peaked transition density, quite different from that of a pure radial mode. In contrast, the electron scattering amplitude S_1/2 is quite well described by a breathing mode transition density with radial node. This large difference between charge and matter transition density suggests, that in p-p scattering the coupling to the multi-gluon field is much more important than the coupling to the valence quarks. A multi-gluon (or sea-quark) transition density is derived, which shows also breathing, indicating a rather complex multi-quark structure of N and N* including multi-glue (or q^2n qbar ^-2n) creation out of the g.s. vacuum.