Vector Meson Photoproduction with an Effective Lagrangian in the Quark Model I: Formalism

Abstract

A quark model approach to the photoproduction of vector mesons off nucleons is proposed. Its starting point is an effective Lagrangian of the interaction between the vector meson and the quarks inside the baryon. This paper develops the formalism and highlights the dynamical roles of s-channel resonances. It is demonstrated that the proposed approach is ideal to support searching for the missing resonances in the vector meson photoproduction experiments proposed at TJNAF.