We investigate the Λ(1520) photo-production in the γp→K+Λ(1520) reaction within the effective Lagrangian method near
threshold. In addition to the "background" contributions from the contact,
t−channel K exchange, and s−channel nucleon pole terms, which were
already considered in previous works, the contribution from the nucleon
resonance N∗(2080) (spin-parity JP=3/2−) is also considered. We show
that the inclusion of the nucleon resonance N∗(2080) leads to a fairly good
description of the new LEPS differential cross section data, and that these
measurements can be used to determine some of the properties of this latter
resonance. However, serious discrepancies appear when the predictions of the
model are compared to the photon-beam asymmetry also measured by the LEPS
Collaboration.Comment: 9 pages,6 figures, 1 tabl