Exclusive $\rho^{0}$ and $\Phi$ production in deep inelastic muon scattering

Data are presented on exclusive ρ0 and ϕ production in deep inelastic muon scattering from a target consisting mainly of nitrogen. The ratio of the total cross sections for ρ0 and ϕ production is found to be 9∶(1.6±0.4) at 〈Q2〉=7.5 GeV2, consistent with theSU(3) prediction of 9∶2. Thet dependence for exclusive ρ0 production is found to become shallover asQ2 increases and, for largeQ2, thet dependence is typical of that for a hard scattering process. Furthermore, the ratio of the cross sections for coherent: incoherent production from nitrogen is found to decrease rapidly withQ2. Such behaviour indicates that even for exclusive vector meson production the virtual photon behaves predominantly as an electromagnetic probe.