We present a measurement of the induced proton polarization $P_n$ in ${\pi }^0$ electroproduction on the proton around the $\Delta$ resonance. The measurement was made at a central invariant mass and a squared four-momentum transfer of $W=1231\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{MeV}$ and $Q^2=0.126\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}{\mathrm{GeV}}^2{/c}^2,$ respectively. We measured a large induced polarization, $P_n=-0.397\pm 0.055\pm \mathrm{0.009.}$ The data suggest that the scalar background is larger than expected from a recent effective Hamiltonian model.

• Received 5 December 1997

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.58.3722