Φ Photoproduction in a Coupled-Channel Approach Original Research Article

We investigate photoproduction of ϕ-mesons off protons within a coupled-channel effective-Lagrangian method which is based on the K-matrix approach. We take into account πN, ρN, ηN, KΛ, KΣ, KΛ(1520) and ϕN channels. Especially we focus on KΛ(1520) channel. We also introduce a nucleon resonance which couples to ϕN and KΛ(1520) channels. We find that coupled-channel effects are not sizable at very forward angle (θ=0) and the resonance can reproduce a peak structure of the correct magnitude at the right energy. We also investigate the effects of coupled channels and the resonance on the angular distribution for ϕ-photoproduction.