Photoproduction of η-mesons off protons

Photoproduction of η -mesons was studied with the Crystal-Barrel detector at ELSA for photon energies in the range from 0.75 to 3GeV. Total and differential cross-sections are presented. The η mesons are detected in two decay modes, in η → 2γ and in η → 3π0 → 6γ . The cross-sections vary slowly as functions of energy and η production angle suggesting that only few resonances make significant contributions to the cross-section. For photon energies above 1.5GeV, the differential cross-sections show a strong forward peak due to meson exchanges in the t channel. A comparison of the η -photoproduction cross-sections with SAID and MAID as well as with a partial-wave analysis performed on our data in combination with other data sets shows good agreement. The Bonn-Gatchina partial-wave analysis suggests that the largest contribution to η photoproduction for energies below 3GeV proceeds via three resonances, the well-known N(1535)S11 , via N(1720)P13 , and a newly suggested N(2070)D15 .