Production of proton-antiproton pairs by two-photon scattering has been observed at the electron-position storage ring PETRA. A total of eight proton-antiproton pairs have been identified using the time-of-flight technique. We have measured a total cross section of 4.5 ± 0.8 nb in the photon-photon c.m. energy range 2.0–2.6 GeV.
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.
Total and differential cross sections for exclusive production of proton-antiproton pairs in photon-photon collisions have been measured using the JADE detector at PETRA. The total cross section in the CM angular |cos θ ∗ | < 0.6 reaches a maximum value of 3.8 nb for a γγ invariant mass of W γγ = 2.25 GeV, and decreases rapidly for higher values of W γγ . In the range 2.0 GeV < W γγ < 2.6 GeV the angular distribution is not isotopic. The nucleons are preferentially emitted at large angles to the collision axis.
We report a measurement of the reaction γγ→K+K−π+π− in both tagged and untagged events at PEP. The cross section rises with invariant γγ mass to about 15 nb at 2 GeV and falls slowly at higher masses. We find clear evidence for the processes γγ→φπ+π− and γγ→K*0(892)Kπ. Upper limits (95% C.L.) of 1.5 and 5.7 nb in the mass range from 1.7 to 3.7 GeV are obtained for φρ0 and K*0K¯*0 production, respectively.
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.
The inclusive production of D ∗± mesons in photon-photon collisions has been measured by the Aleph experiment at LEP with a beam energy of 45 GeV. The D ∗+ are detected in their decay to D 0 π + with the D 0 observed in three separate decay modes: (1) K − π + , (2) K − π + π 0 and (3) K − π + π − π + , and analagously for the D ∗− modes. A total of 33 events was observed from an integrated luminosity of 73 pb −1 which corresponds to a cross section for Σ( e + e − → e + e − D ∗± X ) of 155 ± 33 ± 21 pb. This result is compatible with both the direct production γγ → c c in the Born approximation and with a more complete calculation which includes both radiative QCD corrections and contributions in which one of the photons is first resolved into its quark and gluon constituents. The shapes of distributions for events containing a D ∗+ are found to be better described by the latter.
The two-photon collision reaction e + e − → e + e − l + l − has been studied at 2 ≈91 GeV using the L3 detector at LEP for l = e, μ , τ . We have analysed untagged configurations where the two photons are quasi-real. Good agreement is found between our measurements and the O (α 4 ) QED expectation.
The formation of the η ′ in the reaction e + e − →e + e − η ′→e + e − π + π − γ has been measured by the L3 detector at a centre-of-mass energy of 91 GeV . The radiative width of the η ′ has been found to be Γ γγ =4.17±0.10 (stat.) ±0.27 (sys.) keV . The Q 2 dependence of the η ′ formation cross section has been measured for Q 2 ≤10 GeV 2 and the η ′ electromagnetic transition form factor has been determined. The form factor can be parametrised by a pole form with Λ=0.900±0.046 (stat.) ±0.022 (sys.) GeV . It is also consistent with recent non-perturbative QCD calculations.
Inclusive production of $\mathrm{D^{*\pm}}$ mesons in two-photon collisions was measured by the L3 experiment at LEP. The data were collected at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 189$ GeV with an integrated luminosity of $176.4 \mathrm{pb^{-1}}$. Differential cross sections of the process $\mathrm{e^+e^- \to D^{*\pm} X}$ are determined as functions of the transverse momentum and pseudorapidity of the $\mathrm{D^{*\pm}}$ mesons in the kinematic region 1 GeV $< p_{T}^{\mathrm{D^*}} < 5 $ GeV and $\mathrm{|\eta^{D^*}|} < 1.4$. The cross section integrated over this phase space domain is measured to be $132 \pm 22(stat.) \pm 26(syst.)$ pb. The differential cross sections are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations.
The cross section of charm production in γγ collisions σ(e + e − →e + e − c c ̄ X) is measured at LEP with the L3 detector at centre-of-mass energies from 91 GeV to 183 GeV. Charmed hadrons are identified by electrons and muons from semileptonic decays. The direct process γγ→c c ̄ is found to be insufficient to describe the data. The measured cross section values and event distributions require contributions from resolved processes, which are sensitive to the gluon density in the photon.