Lepton pair photoproduction in peripheral relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the lepton pair photoproduction in peripheral heavy-ion collisions based on the formalism in our previous work [R.-j. Wang, S. Pu, and Q. Wang, Phys. Rev. D 104, 056011 (2021)]. We present the numerical results for the distributions of the transverse momentum, azimuthal angle and invariant mass for e(+)e(-) and mu(+)mu(-) pairs as functions of the impact parameter and other kinematic variables in Au + Au collisions. Our calculation incorporates the information on the transverse momentum and polarization of photons which is essential to describe the experimental data. We observe a broadening effect in the transverse momentum for lepton pairs with and without smear effects. We also observe a significant enhancement in the distribution of cos(2 phi) for mu(+)mu(-) pairs. Our results provide a baseline for future studies of other higher order corrections beyond Born approximation and medium effects in the lepton pair production.

Automated summary

In this study, we investigate the lepton pair photoproduction in peripheral heavy-ion collisions. Numerical results are presented for the distributions of the transverse momentum, azimuthal angle, and invariant mass of e(+)e(-) and mu(+)mu(-) pairs in Au + Au collisions as functions of the impact parameter and other kinematic variables. Our calculation takes into account the information on the transverse momentum and polarization of photons, which are crucial for describing the experimental data. The results show a broadening effect in the transverse momentum of lepton pairs with and without smear effects, as well as a significant enhancement in the distribution of cos(2 phi) for mu(+)mu(-) pairs. These findings serve as a baseline for future studies on higher order corrections and medium effects in lepton pair production.