First measurement of the circular beam asymmetry in the gamma p --> pi0 eta p reaction

The circular photon asymmetry for pi0 eta photoproduction on the proton was measured for the first time at the tagged photon facility of the MAMI C accelerator using the Crystal Ball/TAPS photon spectrometer. The experimental results are interpreted within a phenomenological isobar model that confirms the dominant role of the Delta(1700)D33 resonance. The measured asymmetry allows us to identify small contributions from positive-parity resonances via interference terms with the dominant D33 amplitude.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys.Lett.

Measurement of the beam-helicity asymmetry in photoproduction of π0η pairs on carbon, aluminum, and lead

The beam-helicity asymmetry was measured, for the first time, in photoproduction of π0η pairs on carbon, aluminum, and lead, with the A2 experimental setup at MAMI. The results are compared to an earlier measurement on a free proton and to the corresponding theoretical calculations. The Mainz model is used to predict the beam-helicity asymmetry for the nuclear targets. The present results indicate that the photoproduction mechanism for π0η pairs on nuclei is similar to photoproduction on a free nucleon. This process is dominated by the D33 partial wave with the ηΔ(1232) intermediate state

Measurement of the decay η′ →π0π0η at MAMI

An experimental study of the η′→π0π0η→6γ decay has been conducted with the best up-to-date statistical accuracy, by measuring η′ mesons produced in the γp→η′p reaction with the A2 tagged-photon facility at the Mainz Microtron, MAMI. The results obtained for the standard parametrization of the η′→π0π0η matrix element are consistent with the most recent results for η′→ππη decays, but have smaller uncertainties. The available statistics and experimental resolution allowed, for the first time, an observation of a structure below the π+π- mass threshold, the magnitude and sign of which, checked within the framework of the nonrelativistic effective-field theory, demonstrated good agreement with the cusp that was predicted based on the ππ scattering length combination, a0-a2, extracted from K→3π decays

First measurement of the polarization observable E and helicity-dependent cross sections in single π0 photoproduction from quasi-free nucleons

The double-polarization observable E and the helicity-dependent cross sections σ1/2 and σ3/2 have been measured for the first time for single π0 photoproduction from protons and neutrons bound in the deuteron at the electron accelerator facility MAMI in Mainz, Germany. The experiment used a circularly polarized photon beam and a longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target. The reaction products, recoil nucleons and decay photons from the π0 meson were detected with the Crystal Ball and TAPS electromagnetic calorimeters. Effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the π0N final state. A comparison to data measured with a free proton target showed that the absolute scale of the cross sections is significantly modified by nuclear final-state interaction (FSI) effects. However, there is no significant effect on the asymmetry E since the σ1/2 and σ3/2 components appear to be influenced in a similar way. Thus, the best approximation of the two helicity-dependent cross sections for the free neutron is obtained by combining the asymmetry E measured with quasi-free neutrons and the unpolarized cross section corrected for FSI effects under the assumption that the FSI effects are similar for neutrons and protons

Measurement of the helicity dependence for the γp→nπ⁺ channel in the second resonance region

The helicity dependence of the γp→nπ<sup>+</sup> reaction has been measured for the first time in the photon energy range from 450 to 790 MeV. The experiment, performed at the Mainz Microtron (MAMI), used a 4π-detector system, a circularly polarized, tagged photon beam, and a longitudinally polarized frozen-spin target. Although these polarized data are mainly sensitive to mechanisms involving the D<sub>13</sub>(1520) resonance, a cusp structure at the η production threshold can be clearly observed. These data are significantly different from the predictions of the existing multipole analyses and are used to determine the helicity amplitudes of the D<sub>13</sub>(1520) and S<sub>11</sub>(1535) resonances with improved accuracy

Double pion photoproduction off nuclei - Are there effects beyond final-state interaction?

Photoproduction of pi(0)pi(0) and pi(0)pi(+/-) pairs from nuclei has been measured over a wide mass range (H-2, Li-7, C-12, Ca-40, and Pb-nat) for photon energies from threshold to 600 MeV. The experiments were performed at the MAMI accelerator in Mainz, using the Glasgow photon tagging spectrometer and a 4 pi electromagnetic calorimeter consisting of the Crystal Ball and TAPS detectors. A shift of the pion-pion invariant-mass spectra for heavy nuclei to small invariant masses has been observed for pi(0) pairs but also for the mixed-charge pairs. The precise results allow for the first time a model-independent analysis of the influence of pion final-state interactions. The corresponding effects are found to be large and must be carefully considered in the search for possible in-medium modifications of the sigma-meson. Results from a transport model calculation reproduce the shape of the invariant-mass distributions for the mixed-charge pairs better than for the neutral pairs, but also for the latter differences between model results and experiment are not large, leaving not much room for sigma-in-medium modification. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The technocratic totalitarianism of construction process improvement: a critical perspective

The current research agenda for construction process improvement is heavily influenced by the rhetoric of business process re-engineering (BPR). In contrast to the wider literature on BPR, there is little evidence of critical thought within the construction management research community. A postmodernist interpretation is advocated whereby the reality of management practice is defined by the dominant management discourse. The persuasiveness of BPR rhetoric is analysed with particular reference to the way in which it plays on the insecurity of modern managers. Despite the lip service given to ‘empowerment’ and ‘teamwork’, the dominant theme of the re-engineering movement is that of technocratic totalitarianism. From a critical perspective, it is suggested that BPR is imposed on construction organizations to ensure continued control by the industry's dominant power groups. Whilst industry leaders are fond of calling for ‘attitudinal and cultural improvement’, the language of the accepted research agenda continually reinforces the industry's dominant culture of ‘control and command’. Therefore, current research directions in process improvement perpetuate existing attitudes rather than facilitating cultural change. The concept of lean construction is seen to be the latest manifestation of this phenomenon