Search for modification of vector meson properties in nuclei

QCD sum rules depict the atomic nucleus as being a medium with partially restored chiral symmetry. This property of the nucleus would imply that the properties of vector mesons, such as their mass and width, are modified when produced in the nuclear medium, since they are controlled by chiral symmetry and its spontaneous as well as explicit breaking in QCD. The g7 (or E01-112) experiment was therefore designed to look for medium effects on the properties of the light vector mesons (rho, omega, and phi) in photoproduction, through their rare leptonic decay into e+e-. This decay channel has been preferred to the two pion channel to avoid distorting the information by strong final interactions. The data for this experiment was taken in the fall of 2002 using the CLAS detector at the Jefferson Laboratory. A bremsstrahlung photon beam was sent on a target containing a liquid deuterium cell and several nuclear targets: C, Fe, Ti, and Pb. Remarkably clean e+e- invariant mass spectra were obtained thanks to the outstanding pion rejection with CLAS and its excellent mass resolution. They represent the first observation of the photoproduction of the rho, omega and phi mesons close to threshold via their rare decay into e+e-. A depletion of the omega and phi peaks was observed with increasing target density. This depletion was not seen as markedly in the simulations done using a code based on the BUU transport equations. The data was broken up per target and fitted using the unmodified rho, omega and phi invariant mass distributions from the BUU simulation code. The Dalitz decay contribution of the omega obtained with the same code as well as the combinatorial background shape from mixed e+e- events were also included in the fit. The overall quality of the fits is suggestive of no medium effects observed on the properties of the vector mesons from this data set. However the contribution from the Bethe-Heitler has to be fully understood and incorporated in the fits before a firm claim can be made