Production of ω-mesons in proton-proton collisions

The production of $\omega$-mesons in proton-proton collisions for proton incident energies up to 2.2 GeV is investigated within a meson-exchange model of hadronic interactions. We find a large cancellation between the dominant $\pi\rho\omega$ meson-exchange current and nucleonic current contributions. A comparison with preliminary data from SATURNE calls for the inclusion of off-shell form factors at the $NN\omega$ and $\pi\rho\omega$ production vertices. Due to the present lack of knowledge of these form factors, together with the destructive interference mentioned above, the relative magnitude of the nucleonic and meson-exchange current contributions cannot be determined from existing total cross section data. However, it is shown that the angular distribution of the produced $\omega$-mesons provides an unique and clear signature of the magnitude of these currents, thus allowing one to disentangle these two basic reaction mechanisms.