Beam spin asymmetry in deep and exclusive pi0 electroproduction

Abstract

The beam spin asymmetry (BSA) in the exclusive reaction ep->ep pi0 was measured with the CEBAF 5.77 GeV polarized electron beam and Large Acceptance Spectrometer(CLAS). The xB, Q2, t and phi dependences of the pi0 BSA are presented in the deep inelastic regime. The asymmetries are fitted with a sin(phi) function and their amplitudes are extracted. Overall, they are of the order of 0.04 - 0.11 and roughly independent of t. This is the signature of a non-zero longitudinal-transverse interference. The implications concerning the applicability of a formalism based on generalized parton distributions, as well as the extension of a Regge formalism at high photon virtualities, are discussed.