On the extraction of cross sections for [π.sup.0] and η photoproduction off neutrons from deuteron data

We discuss the procedure of extracting the photoproduction cross section for neutral pseudoscalar mesons off neutrons from deuteron data. The main statement is that the final-state-interaction corrections for the proton and neutron target are in general not equal, but for [π.sup.0] production there are special cases where they have to be identical and there are large regions in the parameter space of incident photon energy and pion polar angle, [ϴ.sup.*,] where they happen to be quite similar. The corrections for both target nucleons are practically identical for [π.sup.0] production in the energy range of the Δ (1232)[3/2.sup.+] resonance due to the specific isospin structure of this excitation. Also above the Δ-isobar range large differences between proton and neutron correction factors are only predicted for extreme forward angles (ϴ < 20°), but the results are similar for larger angles. The case of η photoproduction is also briefly considered. Numerical results for the γp → [π.sup.0]p and γ → [π.sup.0] correction factors are discussed. Also the model description for the available data on the differential γd → [π.sup.0]pn cross sections are given.