An experimental investigation of π photoproduction processes on 3He

Abstract Experimental results are reported on single and double π photoproduction on 3 He up to E γ = 800 MeV. The cross sections per equivalent quantum, total cross sections as a function of the photon energy and angular distributions are given, In the double charged photoproduction channel the P π + and P π − invariant mass distributions are presented and compared with the predictions of an isobaric model assuming the impulse approximation. There is also evidence for π + π + photoproduction in analogy with π + π + and π − π − production on 4 He seen in a previous experiment. The data seem generally consistent with the available theoretical predictions based on the impulse approximation.