For the first time at LEP the production of prompt photons is studied in the collisions of quasi-real photons using the OPAL data taken at e+e- centre-of-mass energies between 183 GeV and 209 GeV. The total inclusive production cross-section for isolated prompt photons in the kinematic range of photon transverse momentum larger than 3.0 GeV and absolute photon pseudorapidity less than 1 is determined to be 0.32 +- 0.04 (stat) +- 0.04 (sys) pb. Differential cross-sections are compared to the predictions of a next-to-leading-order (NLO) calculation.
The reactions gamma gamma -> pi^+pi^-pi^+pi^- and gamma gamma -> pi^+pi^0pi^-pi^0 are studied with the L3 detector at LEP in a data sample collected at centre-of-mass energies from 161GeV to 209GeV with a total integrated luminosity of 698/pb. A spin-parity-helicity analysis of the rho^0 rho^0 and rho^+ rho^- systems for two-photon centre-of-mass energies between 1GeV and 3GeV shows the dominance of the spin-parity state 2+ with helicity 2. The contribution of 0+ and 0- spin-parity states is also observed, whereas contributions of 2- states and of a state with spin-parity 2+ and zero helicity are found to be negligible.
Exclusive production of π and K meson pairs in two photon collisions is measured with ALEPH data collected between 1992 and 2000. Cross-sections are presented as a function of cos θ ∗ and invariant mass, for | cos θ ∗ |<0.6 and invariant masses between 2.0 and 6.0 GeV/ c 2 (2.25 and 4.0 GeV/ c 2 ) for pions (kaons). The shape of the distributions are found to be well described by QCD predictions but the data have a significantly higher normalization.
Vector meson production is studied in the reaction γγ→K+K−π+π−. A clear Φ(1020) signal is seen in theK+K− mass distribution and aK*0 (890) signal is visible in theK±π∓ one. Both do not seem to be strongly correlated with quasi two body final states. Cross sections for the processes γγ→K+K−π+π−, γγ→Φπ+π−, γγ→K+0K±π∓ and upper limits for the production of Φp, ΦΦ andK*0\(\overline {K^{ * 0} } \) are given as function of the invariant γγ mass.
K^+K^- production in two-photon collisions has been studied using a large data sample of 67 fb^{-1} accumulated with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e^+e^- collider. We have measured the cross section for the process gamma gamma -> K^+ K^- for center-of-mass energies between 1.4 and 2.4 GeV, and found three new resonant structures in the energy region between 1.6 and 2.4 GeV. The angular differential cross sections have also been measured.
Exclusive rho rho production in two-photon collisions involving a single highly virtual photon is studied with data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies 89GeV < \sqrt{s} < 209GeV with a total integrated luminosity of 854.7pb^-1 The cross section of the process gamma gamma^* -> rho rho is determined as a function of the photon virtuality, Q^2 and the two-photon centre-of-mass energy, Wgg, in the kinematic region: 1.2GeV^2 < Q^2 < 30GeV^2 and 1.1GeV < Wgg < 3GeV.
We report cross sections for the process γγ→pp¯ at center-of-mass energies W from 2.0 to 2.8 GeV. These results have been extracted from measurements of e+e−→e+e−pp¯ at an overall center-of-mass energy of 29 GeV, using the TPC/Two-Gamma facility at the SLAC storage ring PEP. Cross sections for the untagged mode [both photons nearly real] are shown to lie well above QCD predictions. Results are also presented for the single-tagged mode [one photon in the range 0.16<Q2<1.6 (GeV/c)2].
The differential cross section for the process $\gamma \gamma \to \eta \pi^0$ has been measured in the kinematic range $0.84 \GeV < W < 4.0 \GeV$, $|\cos \theta^*|<0.8$, where $W$ and $\theta^*$ are the energy and $\pi^0$ (or $\eta$) scattering angle, respectively, in the $\gamma\gamma$ center-of-mass system. The results are based on a 223 fb$^{-1}$ data sample collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^+ e^-$ collider. Clear peaks due to the $a_0(980)$ and $a_2(1320)$ are visible. The differential cross sections are fitted in the energy region $0.9 \GeV < W < 1.46 \GeV$ to obtain the parameters of the $a_0(980)$. Its mass, width and $\Gamma_{\gamma \gamma} \B (\eta \pi^0)$ are measured to be $982.3 ^{+0.6}_{-0.7} ^{+3.1}_{-4.7} \MeV/c^2$, $75.6 \pm 1.6 ^{+17.4}_{-10.0} \MeV$ and $128 ^{+3}_{-2} ^{+502}_{-43} \eV$, respectively. The energy and angular dependences above 3.1 GeV are compared with those measured in the $\pi^0 \pi^0$ channel. The integrated cross section over $|\cos \theta^*|<0.8$ has a $W^{-n}$ dependence with $n = 10.5 \pm 1.2 \pm 0.5$, which is slightly larger than that for $\pi^0 \pi^0$. The differential cross sections show a $\sin^{-4} \theta^*$ dependence similar to $\gamma \gamma \to \pi^0 \pi^0$. The measured cross section ratio, $\sigma(\eta \pi^0)/\sigma(\pi^0 \pi^0) = 0.48 \pm 0.05 \pm 0.04$, is consistent with a QCD-based prediction.
Exclusive rho^+ rho^- production in two-photon collisions involving a single highly-virtual photon is studied with data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies 89 GeV < \sqrt{s} < 209 GeV with a total integrated luminosity of 854.7 pb^-1. The cross section of the process gamma gamma^* -> rho^+ rho^- is determined as a function of the photon virtuality, Q^2, and the two-photon centre-of-mass energy, W_gg, in the kinematic region: 1.2 GeV^2 < Q^2 < 30 GeV^2 and 1.1 GeV < W_gg < 3 GeV. The \rho^+\rho^- production cross section is found to be of the same magnitude as the cross section of the process gamma gamma^* -> rho^0 rho^0, measured in the same kinematic region by L3, and to have similar W_gg and Q^2 dependences.
The reaction e+e−→e+e−π0π0 has been analyzed using 97 pb−1 of data taken with the Crystal Ball detector at the DESY e−e+ storage ring DORIS II at beam energies around 5.3 GeV. For the first time we have measured the cross section for γγ→π0π0 for π0π0 mvariant masses ranging from threshold to about 2 GeV. We measure an approximately flat cross section of about 10 nb for W=mπ0π0<0.8 GeV, which is below 0.6 GeV, in good agreement with a theoretical prediction based on an unitarized Born-term model. At higher invariant masses we observe formation of the f2(1270) resonance and a hint of the f0(975). We deduce the following two-photon widths: Γγγ(f2(1270))=3.19±0.16±0.280.29 keV and Γγγ(f0(975))<0.53 keV at 90% C.L. The decay-angular distributions show the π0π0 system to be dominantly spin 0 for W<0.7 GeV and spin 2, helicity 2 in the f2(1270) region, with helicity 0 contributing at most 22% (90% C.L.).