We report measurements of the two-photon processes e+e−→e+e−π+π− and e+e−→e+e−K+K−, at an e+e− center-of-mass energy of 29 GeV. In the π+π− data a high-statistics analysis of the f(1270) results in a γγ width Γ(γγ→f)=3.2±0.4 keV. The π+π− continuum below the f mass is well described by a QED Born approximation, whereas above the f mass it is consistent with a QCD-model calculation if a large contribution from the f is assumed. For the K+K− data we find agreement of the high-mass continuum with the QCD prediction; limits on f′(1520) and θ(1720) formation are presented.
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.
The two-photon production of the η meson has been observed, and a value has been determined for the two-photon η decay width by a measurement of the cross section σ(e+e−→e+e−η) where η→γγ. The measurement was made with the TPC/Two-Gamma facility at the SLAC e+e− collider PEP, with an accumulated data sample of 64.5 pb−1. The η→γγ events were both triggered and detected by the pole-tip calorimeter. The measured two-photon η decay width is Γη→γγ=0.64±0.14 (statistical) ±0.13 (systematic) keV, in agreement with earlier similarly determined values.
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 production of charged hadrons and K_s mesons in the collisions of quasi-real photons has been measured using the OPAL detector at LEP. The data were taken at e+e- centre-of-mass energies of 161 and 172 GeV. The differential cross-sections as a function of the transverse momentum and the pseudorapidity of the charged hadrons and K_s mesons have been compared to the leading order Monte Carlo simulations of PHOJET and PYTHIA and to perturbative next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD calculations. The distributions have been measured in the range 10-125 GeV of the hadronic invariant mass W. By comparing the transverse momentum distribution of charged hadrons measured in gamma-gamma interactions with gamma-proton and meson-proton data we find evidence for hard photon interactions in addition to the purely hadronic photon interactions.
Inclusive jet production (e+e- -> e+e- +jet+X) is studied in collisions of quasi-real photons radiated by the LEP beams at e+e- centre-of-mass energies sqrt see from 189 to 209 GeV. Jets are reconstructed using the kp jet algorithm. The inclusive differential cross-section is measured as a function of the jet transverse momentum, ptjet, in the range 5 <ptjet < 40 GeV for pseudo-rapidities, etaj, in the range -1.5 < etaj < 1.5. The results are compared to predictions of perturbative QCD in next-to-leading order in the strong coupling constant.
The inclusive one- and two-jet production cross-sections are measured in collisions of quasi-real photons radiated from the LEP beams at e+e− centre-of-mass energies \(\sqrt{s}_{\rm ee}=130\) and 136 GeV using the OPAL detector at LEP. Hard jets are reconstructed using a cone jet finding algorithm. The differential jet cross-sections \({\rm d}\sigma /{\rm d}E_{T}^{\rm jet}\) are compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. Transverse energy flows in jets are studied separately for direct and resolved two-photon events.
Di-jet production is studied in collisions of quasi-real photons radiated by the LEP beams at e+e- centre-of-mass energies 161 and 172 GeV. The jets are reconstructed using a cone jet finding algorithm. The angular distributions of direct and double-resolved processes are measured and compared to the predictions of leading order and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD. The jet energy profiles are also studied. The inclusive two-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse energy and rapidity and compared to next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations. The inclusive two-jet cross-section as a function of rapidity is compared to the prediction of the leading order Monte Carlo generators PYTHIA and PHOJET. The Monte Carlo predictions are calculated with different parametrisations of the parton distributions of the photon. The influence of the `underlying event' has been studied to reduce the model dependence of the predicted jet cross-sections from the Monte Carlo generators.
Muon pair production in the process e+e- -> e+e-mu+mu- is studied using the data taken at LEP1 (sqrt(s) \simeq m_Z) with the DELPHI detector during the years 1992-1995. The corresponding integrated luminosity is 138.5 pb^{-1}. The QED predictions have been tested over the whole Q^2 range accessible at LEP1 (from several GeV^2/c^4 to several hundred GeV^2/c^4) by comparing experimental distributions with distributions resulting from Monte Carlo simulations using various generators. Selected events are used to extract the leptonic photon structure function F_2^\gamma. Azimuthal correlations are used to obtain information on additional structure functions, F_A^\gamma and F_B^\gamma, which originate from interference terms of the scattering amplitudes. The measured ratios F_A^\gamma/F_2^\gamma and F_B^\gamma/F_2^\gamma are significantly different from zero and consistent with QED predictions.
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.