Anomalies in Diffractive Electroproduction of 2S Radially Excited Light Vector Mesons at HERA

Abstract

We present the color dipole phenomenology of diffractive photo- and electroproduction $\gamma^{*} N\to V(V') N$ of vector mesons ($V(1S) = \phi^0, \omega^0, \rho^0, J/\Psi, \Upsilon$) and their radial excitations ($V'(2S) = \phi', \omega', \rho', \Psi', \Upsilon'$). The main emphasis is related to light vector mesons. We discuss how the energy dependence of the color dipole cross section in conjuction with the node of the radial wave function of the $2S$ states can lead to an anomalous $Q^2$ and energy dependence of diffractive production of $V'(2S)$ vector mesons. The color dipole model predictions for $V(1S)$ light vector meson production are compared with the experimental data from the EMC, NMC, ZEUS and H1 collaborations.