Photoproduction of K+ K- Pairs in Ultraperipheral Collisions

Abstract

K+K- pairs may be produced in photonuclear collisions, either from the decays of photoproduced phi(1020) mesons or directly as nonresonant K+K- pairs. Measurements of K+K- photoproduction probe the couplings between the phi(1020) and charged kaons with photons and nuclear targets. The kaon-proton scattering occurs at energies far above those available elsewhere. We present the first measurement of coherent photoproduction of K+K- pairs on lead ions in ultraperipheral collisions using the ALICE detector, including the first investigation of direct K+K- production. There is significant KthornK- production at low transverse momentum, consistent with coherent photoproduction on lead targets. In the mass range 1.1 < M-KK < 1.4 GeV=c(2) above the phi(1020) resonance, for rapidity vertical bar y(KK)vertical bar < 0.8 and p(T,) (KK) < 0.1 GeV/c, the measured coherent photoproduction cross section is d sigma=dy = 3.37 +/- 0.61 (stat) +/- 0.15(syst) mb. The center-of-mass energy per nucleon of the photon-nucleus (Pb) systemW(gamma Pb,n) ranges from 33 to 188 GeV, far higher than previous measurements on heavy-nucleus targets. The cross section is larger than expected for phi(1020) photoproduction alone. The mass spectrum is fit to a cocktail consisting of phi (1020) decays, direct K+K- photoproduction, and interference between the two. The confidence regions for the amplitude and relative phase angle for direct K+K- photoproduction are presented.