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Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Publication ,  Journal Article
Aaboud, M; Aad, G; Abbott, B; Abdallah, J; Abdinov, O; Abeloos, B; Abidi, SH; AbouZeid, OS; Abraham, NL; Abramowicz, H; Abreu, H; Abreu, R ...
Published in: Nature Physics
September 5, 2017
Published version (DOI)

Light-by-light scattering (γγ → γγ) is a quantum-mechanical process that is forbidden in the classical theory of electrodynamics. This reaction is accessible at the Large Hadron Collider thanks to the large electromagnetic field strengths generated by ultra-relativistic colliding lead ions. Using 480 μ1 of lead-lead collision data recorded at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.02 TeV by the ATLAS detector, here we report evidence for light-by-light scattering. A total of 13 candidate events were observed with an expected background of 2.6 ± 0.7 events. After background subtraction and analysis corrections, the fiducial cross-section of the process Pb + Pb (γγ) → Pb(∗) + Pb(∗)γγ,for photon transverse energy ET > 3GeV, photon absolute pseudorapidity |η| <2.4, diphoton invariant mass greater than 6GeV, diphoton transverse momentum lower than 2GeV and diphoton acoplanarity below 0.01, is measured to be 70 ± 24 (stat.) ±17 (syst.) nb, which is in agreement with the standard model predictions.

Duke Scholars

Ashutosh V. Kotwal
Author Ashutosh V. Kotwal Physics

Published In

Nature Physics

DOI

10.1038/nphys4208

EISSN

1745-2481

ISSN

1745-2473

Publication Date

September 5, 2017

Volume

13

Issue

9

Start / End Page

852 / 858

Related Subject Headings

  • Fluids & Plasmas
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 49 Mathematical sciences
  • 02 Physical Sciences
  • 01 Mathematical Sciences
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Aaboud, M., Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abdallah, J., Abdinov, O., Abeloos, B., … Arnaez, O. (2017). Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Nature Physics, 13(9), 852–858. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4208
Aaboud, M., G. Aad, B. Abbott, J. Abdallah, O. Abdinov, B. Abeloos, S. H. Abidi, et al. “Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC.” Nature Physics 13, no. 9 (September 5, 2017): 852–58. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4208.
Aaboud M, Aad G, Abbott B, Abdallah J, Abdinov O, Abeloos B, et al. Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Nature Physics. 2017 Sep 5;13(9):852–8.
Aaboud, M., et al. “Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC.” Nature Physics, vol. 13, no. 9, Sept. 2017, pp. 852–58. Scopus, doi:10.1038/nphys4208.
Aaboud M, Aad G, Abbott B, Abdallah J, Abdinov O, Abeloos B, Abidi SH, AbouZeid OS, Abraham NL, Abramowicz H, Abreu H, Abreu R, Abulaiti Y, Acharya BS, Adachi S, Adamczyk L, Adelman J, Adersberger M, Adye T, Affolder AA, Agatonovic-Jovin T, Agheorghiesei C, Aguilar-Saavedra JA, Ahlen SP, Ahmadov F, Aielli G, Akatsuka S, Akerstedt H, Åkesson TPA, Akimov AV, Alberghi GL, Albert J, Alconada Verzini MJ, Aleksa M, Aleksandrov IN, Alexa C, Alexander G, Alexopoulos T, Alhroob M, Ali B, Aliev M, Alimonti G, Alison J, Alkire SP, Allbrooke BMM, Allen BW, Allport PP, Aloisio A, Alonso A, Alonso F, Alpigiani C, Alshehri AA, Alstaty M, Alvarez Gonzalez B, Álvarez Piqueras D, Alviggi MG, Amadio BT, Amaral Coutinho Y, Amelung C, Amidei D, Amor Dos Santos SP, Amorim A, Amoroso S, Amundsen G, Anastopoulos C, Ancu LS, Andari N, Andeen T, Anders CF, Anders JK, Anderson KJ, Andreazza A, Andrei V, Angelidakis S, Angelozzi I, Angerami A, Anghinolfi F, Anisenkov AV, Anjos N, Annovi A, Antel C, Antonelli M, Antonov A, Antrim DJ, Anulli F, Aoki M, Aperio Bella L, Arabidze G, Arai Y, Araque JP, Araujo Ferraz V, Arce ATH, Ardell RE, Arduh FA, Arguin JF, Argyropoulos S, Arik M, Armbruster AJ, Armitage LJ, Arnaez O. Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Nature Physics. 2017 Sep 5;13(9):852–858.

Published In

Nature Physics

DOI

10.1038/nphys4208

EISSN

1745-2481

ISSN

1745-2473

Publication Date

September 5, 2017

Volume

13

Issue

9

Start / End Page

852 / 858

Related Subject Headings

  • Fluids & Plasmas
  • 51 Physical sciences
  • 49 Mathematical sciences
  • 02 Physical Sciences
  • 01 Mathematical Sciences