Observing the odderon: tensor meson photoproduction

We calculate high-energy photoproduction of the tensor meson \(f_2(1270)\) by odderon and photon exchange in the reaction \(\gamma +{\rm{p}} \rightarrow f_2(1270) +{\rm{X}}\), where X is either the nucleon or the sum of the N(1520) and N(1535) baryon resonances. Odderon exchange dominates except at very small transverse momentum, and we find a cross section of about 20 nb at a centre-of-mass energy of 20 GeV. This result is compared with what is currently known experimentally about \(f_2\) photoproduction. We conclude that odderon exchange is not ruled out by present data. On the contrary, an odderon-induced cross section of the above magnitude may help to explain a puzzling result observed by the E687 experiment.