Photoproduction of a π rho Pair and Transversity GPDs

We demonstrate that the chiral-odd transversity generalized parton distributions (GPDs) of the nucleon can be accessed through the exclusive photoproduction process gamma + N -> pi + rho + N', in the kinematics where the meson pair has a large invariant mass and the final nucleon has a small transverse momentum, provided the vector meson is produced in a transversely polarized state. We calculate perturbatively the scattering amplitude at leading order in alpha_s: We build a simple model for the dominant transversity GPD HT (x; chi; t) based on the concept of double distribution. Counting rates estimates show that the experiment looks feasible with the real photon beam characteristics expected at JLab@12 GeV, in low Q2 leptoproduction at Jlab@12 GeV and in the COMPASS experiment.