Timelike Compton Scattering with CLAS12 at Jefferson Lab

Abstract

Abstract Generalized Parton Distributions (GPDs) describe the correlations between the longitudinal momentum and the transverse position of the partons inside the nucleon. They are nowadays the subject of an intense effort of research, in the perspective of understanding nucleon structure. GPDs have been studied mainly using Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS, ep → e’p’γ). Here we highlight the measurement of the time-reversal conjugate process of DVCS, Timelike Compton Scattering (TCS) using data taken by CLAS12. The experimental measurement of the TCS angular asymmetry will provide new information on the real part of GPDs. This proceeding assesses the current status of the TCS analysis and presents preliminary results based on CLAS12 data.