Photoproduction of two pions in the energy range of 4.1 – 6.2 GeV

Abstract The reaction γp→; π + π − p in the energy range 4.1 to 6.2 GeV has been studied with a tagged photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target in the DESY one-meter streamer chamber. The reaction is analysed in terms of the longitudinal phase space (LPS) method. The one-pion-exchange model for Δ(1236) production and decay is examined. For the diffractive part of the LPS a dual model with pomeron exchange is investigated. In particular, the s -channel helicity conservation dual model of Dewey and Humpert describes the data well.