Photoproduction ofπ0Mesons from Hydrogen in the Region 900 to 1200 Mev

The reaction $\gamma +p\to {\pi }^0+p$ has been studied in three adjacent 100-Mev energy intervals between 900 and 1200 Mev and at pion center-of-mass angles of 47°, 90°, and 125°. The reaction was observed as a coincidence between the recoil proton and one of the photons from the meson's decay. The kinematics were determined by the energy of the incident photon and the angle of the recoil proton. The differential cross sections at the forward and backward angles show pronounced maxima near 1050 Mev, while the 90° cross sections decrease slowly with energy. The estimated total cross sections suggest a narrow maximum near 1050 Mev. These features are consistent with the previously proposed existence of a resonant state in the pion-nucleon system of total angular momentum $\frac{5}{2}$.