First Measurement of Near-Threshold <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi>J</mml:mi><mml:mo stretchy="false">/</mml:mo><mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi></mml:math> Exclusive Photoproduction off the Proton

We report on the measurement of the γp→J/ψp cross section from E_{γ}=11.8 GeV down to the threshold at 8.2 GeV using a tagged photon beam with the GlueX experiment. We find that the total cross section falls toward the threshold less steeply than expected from two-gluon exchange models. The differential cross section dσ/dt has an exponential slope of 1.67±0.39 GeV^{-2} at 10.7 GeV average energy. The LHCb pentaquark candidates P_{c}^{+} can be produced in the s channel of this reaction. We see no evidence for them and set model-dependent upper limits on their branching fractions B(P_{c}^{+}→J/ψp) and cross sections σ(γp→P_{c}^{+})×B(P_{c}^{+}→J/ψp).