Electroproduction ofϕMesons

We report measurements of the electroproduction of $\varphi$ mesons from hydrogen at $Q^2$ values of 0.23, 0.43, and 0.97 Ge${\mathrm{V}}^2$ with $\mathrm{}\left|t\right|\mathrm{}$ varying from 0.125 to 1.3 Ge${\mathrm{V}}^2$ at each $Q^2$ point. The data show no evidence for a $Q^2$ dependence of the slope of the $t$ distribution; the forward cross section falls with increasing $Q^2$ as the square of the $\varphi$ propagator; the decay angular distributions agree with the predictions of $s$-channel helicity conservation; and the ratio of the longitudinal to the transverse component increases linearly with $Q^2$.