Double-Regge Physics in ηπ⁰ at the GlueX Experiment

The GlueX experiment is a photoproduction experiment based at Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Virginia. A major aim of GlueX is to look for hybrid mesons, which are a quark and an anti-quark bound by an excited gluonic field that contributes to the quantum numbers. The reaction γp → ηπp is of particular interest since ηπ is a potential decay mode of states with exotic quantum numbers J^PC=1^-+, which are forbidden in the constituent quark model. Finding such a resonance would be a clear sign of non-quark model physics. We have been working with members of the Joint Physics Analysis Center to develop and validate a model for the double-Regge interactions in this channel. These non-resonant processes generate asymmetries in the distributions of decay angles, which could be falsely attributed to the interference between exotic odd partial waves and even partial waves. We will present the current status of the development and validation of this double-Regge model and its importance.