A prompt photon cross section measurement from the Collider Detector at Fermilab experiment is presented. Detector and trigger upgrades, as well as 6 times the integrated luminosity compared with our previous publication, have contributed to a much more precise measurement and extended PT range. As before, QCD calculations agree qualitatively with the measured cross section, but the data has a steeper slope than the calculations.
We have measured the cross sections $d^2\sigma/dP_T d\eta$ for production of isolated direct photons in \pbarp collisions at two different center-of-mass energies, 1.8 TeV and 0.63 TeV, using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF). The normalization of both data sets agree with the predictions of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) for photon transverse momentum ($P_T$) of 25 GeV/c, but the shapes versus photon $P_T$ do not. These shape differences lead to a significant disagreement in the ratio of cross sections in the scaling variable $x_T (\equiv 2P_T/\sqrt{s}$). This disagreement in the $x_T$ ratio is difficult to explain with conventional theoretical uncertainties such as scale dependence and parton distribution parameterizations.
The first prompt photon measurement from the CDF experiment at the Fermilab pp¯ Collider is presented. Two independent methods are used to measure the cross section: one for high transverse momentum (PT) and one for lower PT. Comparisons to various theoretical calculations are shown. The cross section agrees qualitatively with QCD calculations but has a steeper slope at low PT.