K+ photoproduction at LEPS/SPring-8

The p(gamma, K+)Lambda and p(gamma, K+)Sigma(0) reactions are studied at the LASER-Electron-Photon facility at SPring-8 (LEPS). Using linearly polarized photons (E-gamma = 1.5 - 2.4) produced via Backward Compton Scattering off the 8-GeV electrons in the SPring-8 storage ring enables the measurement of the photon-polarization asymmetry (Sigma). In contrast to the cross section, this observable is very sensitive to the details of the reaction process, such as the possible contribution from so-called 'missing' resonances, and is an excellent tool for the development of the models. In the paper, the measurements and results are discussed.