The CLAS detector was used to obtain the first ever measurement of the electromagnetic decay of the $\Sigma^{ *+}(1385)$ from the reaction $\gamma p \to K^0 \Sigma^{ *+}(1385)$. A real photon beam with a maximum energy of 3.8 GeV was incident on a liquid-hydrogen target, resulting in the photoproduction of the kaon and $\Sigma^*$ hyperon. Kinematic fitting was used to separate the reaction channel from the background processes. The fitting algorithm exploited a new method to kinematically fit neutrons in the CLAS detector, leading to the partial width measurement of $250.0\pm56.9(stat)^{ +34.3}_{ -41.2}(sys)$ keV. A U-spin symmetry test using the SU(3) flavor-multiplet representation yields predictions for the $\Sigma^{ *+}(1385)\to\Sigma^{ +}\gamma$ and $\Sigma^{ *0}(1385)\to\Lambda\gamma$ partial widths that agree with the experimental measurements.
Categories: nucl-ex hep-ex hep-ph