Evaluation of the Integrated Cross Sections of Reactions of Exclusive Pion and Kaon Electroproduction off Protons in the Resonance Region at Photon Virtualities from 5 to 12 GeV2

Abstract

The integrated cross sections of the ep → eπ⁺n, ep → eπ⁰p, ep → eK⁺Λ, and ep → eK⁺Σ⁰ reactions are evaluated in the energy range of nucleon resonance excitation at photon virtualities Q² from 5 to 12 GeV². These exclusive channels will be explored at photon virtualities Q² > 5 GeV² for the first time in future experiments with the CLAS12 detector. The cross-section evaluation is based on the extrapolation of exclusive contributions to the inclusive structure functions F₁ and F₂ from a region of Q² < 5 GeV², in which the experimental data are available, to the region of higher Q². This evaluation of cross sections is of particular importance in the development of the program of experiments with the CLAS12 detector for studying the structure of the ground and excited nucleon states, which may reveal the dynamics of strong interactions in the nonperturbative regime.