Meson and Baryon Photoproduction using γp→K_SK_Sp at GlueX.

The photoproduction of mesons decaying into pairs of neutral kaons is being studied with GlueX at Jefferson Lab via the reaction γp→K_S K_Sp. The combination of two neutral identical kaons is only allowed to have even total angular momentum, constraining the parent particles to the scalar and tensor states such as the a₀’s, a₂’s, f₀’s, and f₂’s. Data sets with several tens of thousands of events created in the photon energy range from 6.25 to 11.6 GeV have been obtained using the GlueX Phase 1 data set, allowing for the first significant study of this reaction. Preliminary results show interference patterns characteristic of several known mesonic intermediate states in the Gottfried-Jackson and helicity systems. Additionally, the data also show evidence of reactions in which a K⁰ is produced in combination with baryons from the family of Σ⁺ hyperons, which subsequently decay to K̅⁰ and a proton. Our work describes several mesonic and baryonic states which are obtained after kinematic fitting and a set of selection criteria used to reduce backgrounds from non-strange production. We will evaluate the quantum numbers of the mesonic states to determine if any of them could have hybrid/exotic qualities (forbidden quantum number combinations due to gluonic excitation) and measure cross-sections to ascertain the possibility of glueball mixing in any of the states.