Measurements of $γ_v p \to π^+ π^-p'$ Cross Sections with the CLAS12 Detector for $Q^2$ from 2.4-8.0 GeV$^2$ and $W$ from 1.4-2.1 GeV

Abstract: This paper reports exclusive cross sections for the $ep \to e&#39;π<sup>+π<sup>-p&#39;$ reaction using the CLAS12 detector at Jefferson Laboratory. The extractions of fully integrated and nine single-differential cross sections are presented for the first time for photon virtualities $Q<sup>2$ from 2.4 to 8.0 GeV$<sup>2$ and center-of-mass energies $W$ from 1.4 to 2.1 GeV, which covers a large part of the nucleon resonance region. These data considerably extend the kinematic reach of previous measurements from CLAS that covered $Q<sup>2$ up to 5.0 GeV$<sup>2$. Exclusive $γ_v p \to π⁺ π<sup>-p&#39;$ cross section measurements are of particular importance for the extraction of $γ_vpN<sup>*$ resonance electrocouplings across the $N<sup>*$ spectrum, especially in the mass range above 1.6 GeV where several resonances decay preferentially to the $ππN$ final states. The electrocouplings with extended $Q<sup>2$ coverage expected from these new data will enable an improved understanding of the emergence of $N<sup>*$ mass and structure in the transition from the strongly coupled toward the perturbative QCD regime.