Comparative study of the scalar- and tensor-meson production in the reaction γγ{sup *} (Q{sup 2})→ ηπ{sup 0}
The cross section for the reaction γγ{sup *} (Q{sup 2})→ ηπ{sup 0} was predicted on the basis of a simultaneous analysis of data from the Belle detector (Japan) on the reaction γγ → ηπ{sup 0} and data the KLOE detector (Italy) on the decay process ϕ → ηπ{sup 0}γ. The production of a{sub 0}(980) scalar and a{sub 2}(1320) tensor mesons was studied in detail. It is shown that the QCD-predicted asymptotic behavior of the cross section for the process γ{sup *}(Q{sup 2})γ → a{sub 2}(1320) → ηπ{sup 0} can be reproduced only upon taking into account the compensation of the contributions of ρ(770) and ω(782) mesons in the leading order by the contributions of their radial excitations in the Q{sup 2} channel. It is expected that, at large Q{sup 2}, the cross section is dominated by the a{sub 2}(1320) contribution, but that, at Q{sup 2} = 0, the a{sub 2}(1320) contribution is commensurate with the scalarmeson contribution.