Near threshold electroproduction of theωmeson atQ2≈0.5GeV2

Electroproduction of the {omega} meson was investigated in the {sup 1}H(e,e{sup '}p){omega} reaction. The measurement was performed at a four-momentum transfer Q{sup 2}{approx_equal}0.5 GeV{sup 2}. Angular distributions of the virtual photon-proton center-of-momentum cross sections have been extracted over the full angular range. These distributions exhibit a strong enhancement over t-channel parity exchange processes in the backward direction. According to a newly developed electroproduction model, this enhancement provides significant evidence of resonance formation in the {gamma}*p{yields}{omega}p reaction channel.