Measurement of the Photon Beam Asymmetry in \u3ci\u3eγP\u3c/i\u3e → \u3ci\u3eK\u3c/i\u3e\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3eΣ\u3csup\u3e0\u3c/sup\u3e at \u3ci\u3eE\u3csub\u3eγ\u3c/sub\u3e\u3c/i\u3e = 8.5 GeV with GlueX

In this work the photon beam asymmetry Σ for the reaction γp K+ Σ0(1193) is measured using the GlueX experiment in Hall D at Jefferson Lab. The analysis used data that were collected using a linearly polarized photon beam in the energy range (8.2 - 8.8) GeV incident on a liquid hydrogen target. The beam asymmetries are measured as a function of the Mandelstam variable t and as a single value for the low u region. These are the first exclusive measurements of the photon beam asymmetry Σ in this reaction at energies above the baryon resonance region. For the t-channel, results are close to unity and show that the reaction is dominated by the natural-parity exchange of the K*(892) Regge trajectory as predicted by theoretical models. A value of Σ = 0.410±0.090 is obtained for the u-channel and suggests the exchange of both Σ(J = 1/2) and Y*(J = 3/2) trajectory contributions to the production of K+Σ0