UKCover image: Event display of an exclusive γγ candidate recorded by CDF II (event 14704042, run 243808). Shown is the calorimeter lego plot (top), the central outer tracker (bottom left) and the r-z plot of the CDF detector (bottom right).
AbstractWe have observed exclusive γγ production in proton-antiproton collisions at the Tevatron at √ s = 1.96 TeV. We use data corresponding to 1.11 ± 0.07 fb −1 integrated luminosity taken by the Run II Collider Detector at Fermilab, with a trigger requiring two electromagnetic showers, each with transverse energy E T > 2 GeV, and vetoing on hits in the forward beam shower counters. We select events with two electromagnetic showers, each with transverse energy E T > 2.5 GeV and pseudorapidity |η| < 1.0, with no other particles detected in −7.4 < η < +7.4. The two showers have similar E T and an azimuthal angle separation Δφ ∼ π; we find 34 events with exactly two matching charged particle tracks, agreeing with expectations for the QED process pp → p + e + e − +p by two photon exchange; and we find 43 events with no tracks. The latter are candidates for the exclusive process pp → p + γγ +p by double pomeron exchange. We use the strip and wire chambers at the longitudinal shower maximum position within the calorimeter to measure a possible exclusive background from IP + IP → π 0 π 0 , and conclude that it is consistent with zero and is < 15 events at 95% C.L. The measured cross section is σ γγ,excl (|η| < 1, E T (γ) > 2.5 GeV) = 2.48