Eur. Phys. J. A (2015) 51: 129
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2015-15129-5

Review

Physics opportunities with meson beams

¹ The George Washington University, 20052, Washington, DC, USA
² Kent State University, 44242, Kent, OH, USA
³ Kyoto University, 606-8502, Kyoto, Japan
⁴ University of Pittsburgh, 15260, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

^* e-mail: briscoe@gwu.edu

Received: 27 March 2015
Revised: 24 July 2015
Accepted: 25 August 2015
Published online: 20 October 2015

Abstract

Over the past two decades, meson photo- and electroproduction data of unprecedented quality and quantity have been measured at electromagnetic facilities worldwide. By contrast, the meson-beam data for the same hadronic final states are mostly outdated and largely of poor quality, or even non-existent, and thus provide inadequate input to help interpret, analyze, and exploit the full potential of the new electromagnetic data. To reap the full benefit of the high-precision electromagnetic data, new high-statistics data from measurements with meson beams, with good angle and energy coverage for a wide range of reactions, are critically needed to advance our knowledge in baryon and meson spectroscopy and other related areas of hadron physics. To address this situation, a state-of-the-art meson-beam facility needs to be constructed. The present paper summarizes unresolved issues in hadron physics and outlines the vast opportunities and advances that only become possible with such a facility.