Coherent photoproduction of pi^0- and eta-mesons off 7Li

Coherent photoproduction of $\pi^0$-mesons from threshold ($E_{th} \approx$ 136 MeV) throughout the $\Delta$-resonance region and of $\ eta$- mesonsclose to the production threshold ($E_{th} \approx$ 570 MeV for $\eta$) has been measured for $^7$Li nuclei. The experiment was performed using the tagged-photon beam of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the Crystal Balland TAPS detectors combined to give an almost 4$\pi$ solid-angleelectromagnetic calorimeter. The reactions were identified by a combined invariant-massand missing-energyanalysis. A comparison of the pion data to plane-waveimpulse modelling tests the nuclear mass form factor. So far coherent $\eta$-production had been only identified for the lightest nuclear systems ($^2$H and $^3$He). For $^3$He a large enhancement of the cross section above plane-waveapproximations had been reported, indicating the formation of a quasi-bound state. The present Li-data for $\eta$-production agree with a plane-waveapproximation. Contrary to $^3$He, neither a threshold enhancement of the total cross section nor a deviation of the angular distributions from the expected form-factor dependence were observed.