%0 Journal Article
%T Photoproduction of vector mesons off nucleons near threshold
%A Bengt Friman
%A Madeleine Soyeur
%J Physics
%D 1996
%I arXiv
%R 10.1016/0375-9474(96)00011-5
%X We propose a simple meson-exchange model of the photoproduction of $\rho$- and $\omega$-mesons off protons near threshold ($E_\gamma$ less than 2 GeV). This model provides a good description of the available data and implies a large $\rho$-nucleon interaction in the scalar channel ($\sigma$-exchange). We use this phenomenological interaction to estimate the leading contribution to the self-energy of $\rho$-mesons in matter. The implications of our calculation for experimental studies of the $\rho$-meson mass in nuclei are discussed.
%U http://arxiv.org/abs/nucl-th/9601028v1