January 2008, to be published in Physical Review D1


Threshold pion electroproduction at large momentum transfers
V. M. Braun, D. Yu. Ivanov, and A. Peters

We consider pion electroproduction close to threshold for $Q^2$ in the region $1-10$~GeV$^2$ on a nucleon target. The momentum transfer dependence of the S-wave multipoles at threshold, $E_{0+}$ and $L_{0+}$, is calculated in the chiral limit using light-cone sum rules. Predictions for the cross sections in the threshold region are given taking into account P-wave contributions that, as we argue, are model independent to a large extent. The results are compared with the SLAC E136 data on the structure function $F_2(W,Q^2)$ in the threshold region.

© 2008 The American Physical Society.