Search for Theta+ (1540) Pentaquark in High-Statistics Measurement of gammap-->K0K+n at CLAS

Phys Rev Lett. 2006 Feb 3;96(4):042001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.042001. Epub 2006 Jan 31.

Abstract

The exclusive reaction gammap-->K0K+n was studied in the photon energy range between 1.6 and 3.8 GeV searching for evidence of the exotic baryon Theta+ (1540)-->nK+. The decay to nK+requires the assignment of strangeness S=+1 to any observed resonance. Data were collected with the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 70 pb-1. No evidence for the Theta+ pentaquark was found. Upper limits were set on the production cross section as function of center-of-mass angle and nK+ mass. The 95% C.L. upper limit on the total cross section for a narrow resonance at 1540 MeV was found to be 0.8 nb.