Beam Spin Asymmetry in Exclusive $\omega$ Photoproduction off the Bound Proton

In this talk, we present preliminary results for the polarization observable beam-spin asymmetry, $\Sigma$, of the $\vec{\gamma}d\rightarrow\omega p (n)$ reaction, where the $\omega$ meson was identified through its $\omega\rightarrow \pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$ decay. The data were taken during the E06-103 experiment with the CLAS detector in Hall B at Jefferson Laboratory. The experiment used the Hall-B Coherent Bremsstrahlung Facility to provide a high quality beam of linearly-polarized photons in the energy range from $1.1$ to $2.3$ GeV. We determined the beam-spin asymmetry of the $\omega$'s photoproduced off quasi-free protons in deuterium. We studied the evolution of $\Sigma$ with photon energy and center-of-mass angle. This observable provides information on the underlying mechanisms responsible for $s$- and $t$-channel processes. Further, since the $\omega$ meson is an isoscalar ($I_\omega=0$), the reaction of interest serves as an ideal isospin filter, as only $N^*$ states may contribute to the production process. Our results, together with studies of other reaction channels, serve to constrain the missing resonances predicted by QCD-inspired models of the nucleon's internal structure.