Nucleon resonances in the gamma p -> phi K+ Lambda reaction near threshold

We investigate the γ p → ϕ K + Λ reaction near threshold within an effective Lagrangian approach and the isobar model. Various nucleon resonances caused by the π and η meson exchanges and background contributions are considered. It is shown that the contribution from the N * ( 1535 ) resonance caused by the η meson exchange plays the predominant role. Hence, this reaction provides a good new platform to study the N * ( 1535 ) resonance. The predicted total cross section and specific features of the angular distributions can be tested by future experiments.