We report a measurement of the cross section for the process γγ → π + π − at invariant masses 500 MeV/ c 2 < m ππ <2000 MeV/ c 2 . A value for the radiative width of the f(1270) tensor meson Γ f→ γγ = 3.6 ± 0.3 ± 0.5 KeV (helicity λ = 2) has been obtained from a fit to the observed ππ mass spectrum.
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.