We report a high-statistics measurement of differential cross sections for the process gamma gamma -> pi^0 pi^0 in the kinematic range 0.6 GeV <= W <= 4.0 GeV and |cos theta*| <= 0.8, where W and theta* are the energy and pion scattering angle, respectively, in the gamma gamma center-of-mass system. Differential cross sections are fitted to obtain information on S, D_0, D_2, G_0 and G_2 waves. The G waves are important above W ~= 1.6 GeV. For W <= 1.6 GeV the D_2 wave is dominated by the f_2(1270) resonance while the S wave requires at least one additional resonance besides the f_0(980), which may be the f_0(1370) or f_0(1500). The differential cross sections are fitted with a simple parameterization to determine the parameters (the mass, total width and Gamma_{gamma gamma}B(f_0 -> pi^0 pi^0)) of this scalar meson as well as the f_0(980). The helicity 0 fraction of the f_2(1270) meson, taking into account interference for the first time, is also obtained.
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.
The reaction e+e−→e+e−π0π0 has been analyzed using 97 pb−1 of data taken with the Crystal Ball detector at the DESY e−e+ storage ring DORIS II at beam energies around 5.3 GeV. For the first time we have measured the cross section for γγ→π0π0 for π0π0 mvariant masses ranging from threshold to about 2 GeV. We measure an approximately flat cross section of about 10 nb for W=mπ0π0<0.8 GeV, which is below 0.6 GeV, in good agreement with a theoretical prediction based on an unitarized Born-term model. At higher invariant masses we observe formation of the f2(1270) resonance and a hint of the f0(975). We deduce the following two-photon widths: Γγγ(f2(1270))=3.19±0.16±0.280.29 keV and Γγγ(f0(975))<0.53 keV at 90% C.L. The decay-angular distributions show the π0π0 system to be dominantly spin 0 for W<0.7 GeV and spin 2, helicity 2 in the f2(1270) region, with helicity 0 contributing at most 22% (90% C.L.).
The reaction γγ→π0η has been investigated with the Crystal Ball detector at the DESY storage ring DORIS II. Formation of δ(980) and A2(1320) has been observed with γγ partial widths Γγγ(A2)=1.14±0.20±0.2 6 keV and Γγγ(δ)B(δ→πη)=0.19±0.07 −0.07+0.10 keV.
The production of two high-p_T jets in the interactions of quasi-real photons in e+e- collisions at sqrt{s_ee} from 189 GeV to 209 GeV is studied with data corresponding to an integrated e+e- luminosity of 550 pb^{-1}. The jets reconstructed by the k_T cluster algorithm are defined within the pseudo-rapidity range -1 < eta < 1 and with jet transverse momentum, p_T, above 3 GeV/c. The differential di-jet cross-section is measured as a function of the mean transverse momentum ptmean of the jets and is compared to perturbative QCD calculations.
This paper presents experimental results on π + π − production threshold from the collision of quasi-real photons. The data, obtained at the e + e − collider DCI, are a combination of the results from the DM1 and DM2 experiments. Using the e + e − and π + π − production for normalization and cross-checks, we observe a pion pair yield at low invariant mass ( W < 500 MeV/ c 2 ) which is approximately twice the one expected from Born terms.
At the electron-proton collider HERA the inclusive $D~{*\pm}$ meson photoproduction cross section has been measured with the H1 detector in two different, but partly overlapping, kinematical regions. For the first, where $\langle W_{\gamma p}\rangle \approx 200$\ GeV and $Q~2 < 0.01\,\gev~2$, the result is $\sigma(\gamma p \rightarrow c \bar{c} X) = (13.2 \pm 2.2 ~{+2.1}_{-1.7}\, ~{+9.9}_{-4.8})\,\mu b$. The second measurement for $Q~2 < 4\,\gev~2$ yields $\sigma(\gamma p \rightarrow c \bar{c} X) = ( 9.3 \pm 2.1 ~{+1.9}_{-1.8}\, ~{+6.9}_ {-3.2} )\,\mu b$ at $\langle W_{\gamma p}\rangle \approx 142$\,GeV and $\sigma(\gamma p \rightarrow c \bar{c} X) = ( 20.6 \pm 5.5 ~ {+4.3}_{-3.9}\, ~{+15.4}_{-7.2})\,\mu b$ at $\langle W_{\gamma p} \rangle \approx 230$\,GeV, respectively. The third error accounts for an additional uncertainty due to the proton and photon parton density parametrizations. Differential cross sections are presented as a function of the $D~{*\pm}$ transverse momentum and rapidity. The results compare reasonably well with next-to-leading order QCD calculations. Evidence for diffractive photoproduction of charm quark is presented.
Cross sections for the production of two isolated muons up to high di-muon masses are measured in ep collisions at HERA with the H1 detector in a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 71 pb^-1 at a centre of mass energy of sqrt{s} = 319 GeV. The results are in good agreement with Standard Model predictions, the dominant process being photon-photon interactions. Additional muons or electrons are searched for in events with two high transverse momentum muons using the full data sample corresponding to 114 pb^-1, where data at sqrt{s} = 301 GeV and sqrt{s} = 319 GeV are combined. Both the di-lepton sample and the tri-lepton sample agree well with the predictions.
Inclusive charged hadron production, e+e- -> e+e- h+- X, is studied using 414 pb-1 of data collected at LEP with the L3 detector at centre-of-mass energies between 189 and 202 GeV. Single particle inclusive differential cross sections are measured as a function of the particle transverse momentum, pt, and pseudo-rapidity, eta. For p_t < 1.5 GeV, the data are well described by an exponential, typical of soft hadronic processes. For higher pt, the onset of perturbative QCD processes is observed. The pi+- production cross section for pt > 5 GeV is much higher than the NLO QCD predictions.
Exclusive rho rho production in two-photon collisions involving a single highly virtual photon is studied with data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies 89GeV < \sqrt{s} < 209GeV with a total integrated luminosity of 854.7pb^-1 The cross section of the process gamma gamma^* -> rho rho is determined as a function of the photon virtuality, Q^2 and the two-photon centre-of-mass energy, Wgg, in the kinematic region: 1.2GeV^2 < Q^2 < 30GeV^2 and 1.1GeV < Wgg < 3GeV.