The STAR Collaboration reports on the photoproduction of $\pi^+\pi^-$ pairs in gold-gold collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 200 GeV/nucleon-pair. These pion pairs are produced when a nearly-real photon emitted by one ion scatters from the other ion. We fit the $\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant mass spectrum with a combination of $\rho$ and $\omega$ resonances and a direct $\pi^+\pi^-$ continuum. This is the first observation of the $\omega$ in ultra-peripheral collisions, and the first measurement of $\rho-\omega$ interference at energies where photoproduction is dominated by Pomeron exchange. The $\omega$ amplitude is consistent with the measured $\gamma p\rightarrow \omega p$ cross section, a classical Glauber calculation and the $\omega\rightarrow\pi^+\pi^-$ branching ratio. The $\omega$ phase angle is similar to that observed at much lower energies, showing that the $\rho-\omega$ phase difference does not depend significantly on photon energy. The $\rho^0$ differential cross section $d\sigma/dt$ exhibits a clear diffraction pattern, compatible with scattering from a gold nucleus, with 2 minima visible. The positions of the diffractive minima agree better with the predictions of a quantum Glauber calculation that does not include nuclear shadowing than with a calculation that does include shadowing.
The $\pi^+\pi^-$ invariant-mass distribution for all selected $\pi\pi$ candidates with $p_T~<~100~\textrm{MeV}/c$.
The ratio $|B/A|$ of amplitudes of nonresonant $\pi^+\pi^-$ and $\rho^0$ mesons in the present STAR analysis.
The ratio $|B/A|$ of amplitudes of nonresonant $\pi^+\pi^-$ and $\rho^0$ mesons in the previous STAR analysis, Phys. Rev. C 77 034910 (2008).
We report results on the total and elastic cross sections in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV obtained with the Roman Pot setup of the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The elastic differential cross section was measured in the squared four-momentum transfer range $0.045 \leq -t \leq 0.135$ GeV$^2$. The value of the exponential slope parameter $B$ of the elastic differential cross section $d\sigma/dt \sim e^{-Bt}$ in the measured $-t$ range was found to be $B = 14.32 \pm 0.09 (stat.)^{\scriptstyle +0.13}_{\scriptstyle -0.28} (syst.)$ GeV$^{-2}$. The total cross section $\sigma_{tot}$, obtained from extrapolation of the $d\sigma/dt$ to the optical point at $-t = 0$, is $\sigma_{tot} = 54.67 \pm 0.21 (stat.) ^{\scriptstyle +1.28}_{\scriptstyle -1.38} (syst.)$ mb. We also present the values of the elastic cross section $\sigma_{el} = 10.85 \pm 0.03 (stat.) ^{\scriptstyle +0.49}_{\scriptstyle -0.41}(syst.)$ mb, the elastic cross section integrated within the STAR $t$-range $\sigma^{det}_{el} = 4.05 \pm 0.01 (stat.) ^{\scriptstyle+0.18}_{\scriptstyle -0.17}(syst.)$ mb, and the inelastic cross section $\sigma_{inel} = 43.82 \pm 0.21 (stat.) ^{\scriptstyle +1.37}_{\scriptstyle -1.44} (syst.)$ mb. The results are compared with the world data.
The proton-proton elastic differential cross-section $d\sigma_{el}/dt$ in the t-range 0.045<|t|<0.135 $GeV^{2}$ at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV.
The B-slope of the exponential fit A*exp(-B*|t|) to the single differential proton-proton elastic cross-section in the t-range 0.045<|t|<0.135 GeV**2 at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV.
The total, elastic and inelastic cross-sections for proton-proton scattering at sqrt(s)=200 GeV, the elastic cross-section measured in the t-range 0.045<|t|<0.135 GeV^2 and the value of the differential cross-section extrapolated to |t| = 0.
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