High-energy photoproduction of neutral mesons

This thesis presents results from the first full period of data-taking of the experiment WA69 at the Omega^'^ectrometer, CERN, Geneva. The experiment used a tagged photon beam of energy 60-180 GeV incident on a liquid hydrogen target to study photoproduction of hadronic states. The various components of the experiment are described, with particular emphasis on the electromagnetic calorimeters, and the associated offline software for event reconstruction and acceptance calculation. The performance of the outer calorimeter is discussed, and the pi^0 detection and reconstruction efficiency is examined by comparison with pi^{+/- } production. Searches for photoproduction of neutral meson states reveal a clear signal for the pi^0, eta^0 , and omega^0 mesons. The cross-section for elastic omega^0 production is estimated, and found to be consistent with the established value of 1 mub. The cross-section for inclusive pi^0 and eta^0 production is studied using the variable Feynman-x (x_{F }), and pi^0 production as a function of P_{t} is also investigated. These results are then compared with data from other photoproduction experiments.