High-statistics study of the reaction γp → p2π0

Photoproduction off protons of the pπ 0 η three-body final state was studied with the Crystal Barrel/TAPS detector, at the electron stretcher accelerator ELSA in Bonn, for incident energies from the π 0 η production threshold up to 2.5 GeV. Differential cross sections and the total cross sections are presented. The use of linearly polarized photons gives access to the polarization observables Σ, I s , and I c , the latter two characterize beam asymmetries in case of three-body final states. Δ(1232)η, N(1535)1/2− π, and pa 0(980) are the dominant isobars contributing to the reaction. The partial wave analysis confirms the existence of some nucleon and Δ resonances, for which so far only fair evidence was reported. A large number of decay modes of known nucleon and Δ resonances is presented. It is shown that detailed investigations of decay branching ratios may provide a key to unravelling the structure of nucleon and Δ resonances.