Exclusive production of eta pi(-) and eta'pi(-) in has been studied with a 191 GeV/c pi(-) beam impinging on a hydrogen target at COMPASS (CERN). Partial-wave analyses reveal different odd/even angular momentum (L) characteristics in the inspected invariant mass range up to 3 GeV/c(2).
A striking similarity between the two systems is observed for the L = 2, 4, 6 intensities (scaled by kinematical factors) and the relative phases. The known resonances a(2)(1320) and a(4)(2040) are in line with this similarity.
In contrast, a strong enhancement of eta'pi(-) over eta pi(-) is found for the L = 1, 3, 5 waves, which carry non-qq quantum numbers. The L = 1 intensity peaks at 1.7 GeV/c(2) in in and at 1.4 GeV/c(2) in eta pi(-), the corresponding phase motions with respect to L = 2 are different. (C) 2014 The Authors.
Published by Elsevier B.V.