This paper reports the measurement of polarized and unpolarized cross sections for the $ep\to e^{\prime }{p}^{\prime }\gamma$ reaction, which is composed of deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS) and Bethe-Heitler (BH) processes, at an electron beam energy of 5.88 GeV at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility using the Large Acceptance Spectrometer CLAS. The unpolarized cross sections and polarized cross section differences have been measured over broad kinematics, $0.10<x_B<0.58, 1.0<Q^2<4.8{\text{GeV}}^2$, and $0.09<-t<2.00{\text{GeV}}^2$. The results are found to be consistent with previous CLAS data, and these new data are discussed in the framework of the generalized parton distribution approach. Calculations with two widely used phenomenological models are approximately compatible with the experimental results over a large portion of the kinematic range of the data.

• Received 29 March 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.98.045203

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Published by the American Physical Society