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

M. Aaboud; G. Aad; B. Abbott; J. Abdallah; O. Abdinov; B Abeloos; Sarah Abidi; O.S. AbouZeid; NL Abraham; H. Abramowicz; R. Abreu; H. Abreu; Y. Abulaiti; B.S. Acharya; Shin-ichi Adachi; L. Adamczyk; J P Adelman; Mogens Dam; Jørn Dines Hansen; Jørgen Beck Hansen; Stefania Xella; Peter Henrik Hansen; Troels Christian Petersen; Ask Emil Løvschall-Jensen; Alejandro Alonso Diaz; James William Monk; Lars Egholm Pedersen; Graig Wiglesworth; Gorm Aske Gram Krohn Galster; Simon Holm Stark; Geert-Jan Besjes; Flavia de Almeida Dias; Fabian Alexander Jürgen Thiele; Milena Bajic; J. Barr

doi:10.1038/nphys4208

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

M. Aaboud, G. Aad, B. Abbott, J. Abdallah, O. Abdinov, B Abeloos, Sarah Abidi, O.S. AbouZeid, NL Abraham, H. Abramowicz, R. Abreu, H. Abreu, Y. Abulaiti, B.S. Acharya, Shin-ichi Adachi, L. Adamczyk, J P Adelman, Mogens Dam, Jørn Dines Hansen, Jørgen Beck HansenStefania Xella, Peter Henrik Hansen, Troels Christian Petersen, Ask Emil Løvschall-Jensen, Alejandro Alonso Diaz, James William Monk, Lars Egholm Pedersen, Graig Wiglesworth, Gorm Aske Gram Krohn Galster, Simon Holm Stark, Geert-Jan Besjes, Flavia de Almeida Dias, Fabian Alexander Jürgen Thiele, Milena Bajic, J. Barr

Experimental Particle Physics

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Abstract

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 E_T > 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.

Original language	English
Journal	Nature Physics
Volume	13
Pages (from-to)	852-858
ISSN	1745-2473
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4208
Publication status	Published - 5 Sept 2017

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Aaboud, M., Aad, G., Abbott, B., Abdallah, J., Abdinov, O., Abeloos, B., Abidi, S., AbouZeid, O. S., Abraham, NL., Abramowicz, H., Abreu, R., Abreu, H., Abulaiti, Y., Acharya, B. S., Adachi, S., Adamczyk, L., Adelman, J. P., Dam, M., Hansen, J. D., ... Barr, J. (2017). Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Nature Physics, 13, 852-858. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4208

Aaboud, M, Aad, G, Abbott, B, Abdallah, J, Abdinov, O, Abeloos, B, Abidi, S, AbouZeid, OS, Abraham, NL, Abramowicz, H, Abreu, R, Abreu, H, Abulaiti, Y, Acharya, BS, Adachi, S, Adamczyk, L, Adelman, JP, Dam, M , Hansen, JD , Hansen, JB , Xella, S , Hansen, PH , Petersen, TC, Løvschall-Jensen, AE, Alonso Diaz, A, Monk, JW, Pedersen, LE, Wiglesworth, G, Galster, GAGK, Stark, SH, Besjes, G-J, de Almeida Dias, F, Thiele, FAJ, Bajic, M & Barr, J 2017, 'Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC', Nature Physics, vol. 13, pp. 852-858. https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys4208

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

abstract = "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.",

author = "M. Aaboud and G. Aad and B. Abbott and J. Abdallah and O. Abdinov and B Abeloos and Sarah Abidi and O.S. AbouZeid and NL Abraham and H. Abramowicz and R. Abreu and H. Abreu and Y. Abulaiti and B.S. Acharya and Shin-ichi Adachi and L. Adamczyk and Adelman, {J P} and Mogens Dam and Hansen, {J{\o}rn Dines} and Hansen, {J{\o}rgen Beck} and Stefania Xella and Hansen, {Peter Henrik} and Petersen, {Troels Christian} and L{\o}vschall-Jensen, {Ask Emil} and {Alonso Diaz}, Alejandro and Monk, {James William} and Pedersen, {Lars Egholm} and Graig Wiglesworth and Galster, {Gorm Aske Gram Krohn} and Stark, {Simon Holm} and Geert-Jan Besjes and {de Almeida Dias}, Flavia and Thiele, {Fabian Alexander J{\"u}rgen} and Milena Bajic and J. Barr",

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doi = "10.1038/nphys4208",

language = "English",

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T1 - Evidence for light-by-light scattering in heavy-ion collisions with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

AU - Aaboud, M.

AU - Aad, G.

AU - Abbott, B.

AU - Abdallah, J.

AU - Abdinov, O.

AU - Abeloos, B

AU - Abidi, Sarah

AU - AbouZeid, O.S.

AU - Abraham, NL

AU - Abramowicz, H.

AU - Abreu, R.

AU - Abreu, H.

AU - Abulaiti, Y.

AU - Acharya, B.S.

AU - Adachi, Shin-ichi

AU - Adamczyk, L.

AU - Adelman, J P

AU - Dam, Mogens

AU - Hansen, Jørn Dines

AU - Hansen, Jørgen Beck

AU - Xella, Stefania

AU - Hansen, Peter Henrik

AU - Petersen, Troels Christian

AU - Løvschall-Jensen, Ask Emil

AU - Alonso Diaz, Alejandro

AU - Monk, James William

AU - Pedersen, Lars Egholm

AU - Wiglesworth, Graig

AU - Galster, Gorm Aske Gram Krohn

AU - Stark, Simon Holm

AU - Besjes, Geert-Jan

AU - de Almeida Dias, Flavia

AU - Thiele, Fabian Alexander Jürgen

AU - Bajic, Milena

AU - Barr, J.

PY - 2017/9/5

Y1 - 2017/9/5

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

U2 - 10.1038/nphys4208

DO - 10.1038/nphys4208

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1745-2473

VL - 13

SP - 852

EP - 858

JO - Nature Physics

JF - Nature Physics

ER -

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

Abstract

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