PHYSICAL REVIEW D, vol.69, no.9, 2004 (SCI-Expanded)
We analyze polarization effects in the associative photoproduction of pseudoscalar ((D) over bar (c)) charmed mesons in exclusive processes gamma+N-->Y-c+(D) over bar (c), Y-c=Lambda(c)(+), Sigma(c). Circularly polarized photons induce nonzero polarization of the Y-c hyperon with x and z components (in the reaction plane) and nonvanishing asymmetries A(x) and A(z) for polarized nucleon targets. These polarization observables can be predicted in a model-independent way for the exclusive (D) over bar (c)-production processes in collinear kinematics. The T-even components of the Y-c-polarization and asymmetries for noncollinear kinematics can be calculated in the framework of an effective Lagrangian approach. The depolarization coefficients D-ab, characterizing the dependence of the Y-c polarization on the nucleon polarization, are also calculated.