Exclusive ρ0 meson electroproduction from hydrogen at CLAS

The longitudinal and transverse components of the cross section for the ep --> e' prho(0) reaction were measured in Hall B at Jefferson Laboratory using the CLAS detector. The data were taken with a 4.247 GeV electron beam and were analyzed in a range of x(B) from 0.2 to 0.6 and of Q(2) from 1.5 to 3.0 GeV2. The data are compared to a Regge model based on effective hadronic degrees of freedom and to a calculation based on Generalized Parton Distributions. It is found that, at our lowest x(B) values, the transverse part of the cross section is well described by the former approach while the longitudinal part can be reproduced by the latter. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.