Non-strange dibaryons studied in the γd → π0π0d reaction

Coherent double neutral-pion photoproduction on the deuteron, γd→π0π0d, has been experimentally studied at incident photon energies ranging from 0.75 to 1.15 GeV. The total cross section as a function of the γd center-of-mass energy shows resonance-like behavior, which peaks at approximately 2.47 and 2.63 GeV. The measured angular distribution of deuteron emission is rather flat, which cannot be reproduced by the kinematics of quasi-free π0π0 production with deuteron coalescence. In π0d invariant-mass distributions, a clear peak is observed at 2.14±0.01 GeV/c2 with a width of 0.09±0.01 GeV/c2. The spin-parity of this state is restricted to 1+, 2+ or 3− from the angular distributions of the two π0s. The present work shows strong evidence for the existence of an isovector dibaryon resonance with a mass of 2.14 GeV/c2. The 2+ assignment is consistent with the theoretically predicted D12 state, and also with the energy dependence of the πd partial-wave amplitude P23 for the π±d→π±d and π+d→pp reactions.