Abstract

This paper reports on the most comprehensive data set obtained on differential and fully integrated cross sections for the process ep?e'p?+?-. The data were collected with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Laboratory. Measurements were carried out in the as yet unexplored kinematic region of photon virtuality 0.2<Q2<0.6 GeV2 and invariant mass of the final hadron system W from 1.3 to 1.57 GeV. For the first time, nine independent one-fold differential cross sections were determined in each bin of W and Q2 covered by the measurements. A phenomenological analysis of the data allowed us to establish the most significant mechanisms contributing to the reaction. The nonresonant mechanisms account for a major part of cross sections. However, we find sensitivity to s-channel excitations of low-mass nucleon resonances, especially to the N(1440)P11 and N(1520)D13 states in kinematic dependencies of the one-fold differential cross sections. © 2009 The American Physical Society.