

Exclusive production of dielectron pairs, γγ → e + e −, is studied using Lint = 1.72 nb−1 of data from ultraperipheral collisions of lead nuclei at sNN = 5.02 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The process of interest proceeds via photon–photon interactions in the strong electromagnetic fields of relativistic lead nuclei. Dielectron production is measured in the fiducial region defined by following requirements: electron transverse momentum pTe > 2.5 GeV, absolute electron pseudorapidity |η e | < 2.5, dielectron invariant mass mee > 5 GeV, and dielectron transverse momentum pTee < 2 GeV. Differential cross-sections are measured as a function of mee, average pTe , absolute dielectron rapidity |yee|, and scattering angle in the dielectron rest frame, |cos θ *|, in the inclusive sample, and also with a requirement of no activity in the forward direction. The total integrated fiducial cross-section is measured to be 215±1(stat.)−20+23(syst.)±4(lumi.) μb. Within experimental uncertainties the measured integrated cross-section is in good agreement with the QED predictions from the Monte Carlo programs Starlight and SuperChic, confirming the broad features of the initial photon fluxes. The differential cross-sections show systematic differences from these predictions which are more pronounced at high |yee | and |cos θ * | values. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2023, The Author(s).
| Funding sponsor | Funding number | Acronym |
|---|---|---|
| Agence Nationale de la Recherche See opportunities by ANR | ANR | |
| Australian Research Council See opportunities by ARC | ARC | |
| Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique et Technique | CNRST | |
| Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia See opportunities by FCT | FCT | |
| National Stroke Foundation | NSF | |
| Narodowe Centrum Nauki | NCN | |
| National Science Foundation See opportunities by NSF | NSF | |
| Science and Technology Facilities Council See opportunities by STFC | STFC | |
| H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions See opportunities by MSCA | MSCA | |
| Japan Society for the Promotion of Science See opportunities by KAKEN | KAKEN | |
| Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek | NWO | |
| Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | MICINN | |
| Israel Science Foundation | ISF | |
| Leverhulme Trust See opportunities | ||
| Staatssekretariat für Bildung, Forschung und Innovation | SBFI | |
| Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost RS | ARRS | |
| Generalitat de Catalunya | ||
| Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare | INFN | |
| Bundesministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft | BMWFW | |
| Austrian Science Fund | FWF | |
| Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej | NAWA | |
| Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo | ANID | |
| Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung | BMBF | |
| Canada Foundation for Innovation | CFI | |
| Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft See opportunities by HGF | HGF | |
| Danmarks Grundforskningsfond | DNRF | |
| Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico | CNPq | |
| Canarie | ||
| Göran Gustafssons Stiftelser | ||
| Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft See opportunities by DFG | DFG | |
| Neurosurgical Research Foundation | NRF | |
| Ministarstvo Prosvete, Nauke i Tehnološkog Razvoja | MPNTR | |
| U.S. Department of Energy See opportunities by USDOE | USDOE | |
| European Cooperation in Science and Technology | COST | |
| Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo See opportunities by FAPESP | FAPESP | |
| Institutul de Fizică Atomică | IFA | |
| Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China | MOST | |
| Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada See opportunities by NSERC | NSERC | |
| Nella and Leon Benoziyo Center for Neurological Diseases, Weizmann Institute of Science | ||
| Irish Rugby Football Union | IRFU | |
| Chinese Academy of Sciences | CAS | |
| Defence Science Institute | DSI | |
| Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung See opportunities by SNF | SNF | |
| Compute Canada | ||
| Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica | ANPCyT | |
| Minerva Foundation | ||
| European Research Council | ERC | |
| Royal Society of South Australia | RSSA | |
| European Regional Development Fund | ERDF | |
| CERN | ||
| Ministerstvo Školství, Mládeže a Tělovýchovy | MŠMT | |
| National Research Council Canada See opportunities by NRC | NRC | |
| Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung See opportunities by AvH | AvH | |
| Multiple Sclerosis Scientific Research Foundation | MSSRF | |
| Horizon 2020 | ||
| British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund | BCKDF | |
| Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology | MEXT | |
| National Natural Science Foundation of China | NSFC | |
| IN2P3-CNRS | ||
| CRC Health Group | 21/SCI/017 | CRC |
| CRC Health Group | CRC | |
| SCI/013 | ||
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme See opportunities by H2020 | 754510 | H2020 |
| Horizon 2020 Framework Programme See opportunities by H2020 | H2020 | |
| 2014-2021 |
We acknowledge the support of ANPCyT, Argentina; YerPhI, Armenia; ARC, Australia; BMWFW and FWF, Austria; ANAS, Azerbaijan; CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil; NSERC, NRC and CFI, Canada; CERN; ANID, Chile; CAS, MOST and NSFC, China; Minciencias, Colombia; MEYS CR, Czech Republic; DNRF and DNSRC, Denmark; IN2P3-CNRS and CEA-DRF/IRFU, France; SRNSFG, Georgia; BMBF, HGF and MPG, Germany; GSRI, Greece; RGC and Hong Kong SAR, China; ISF and Benoziyo Center, Israel; INFN, Italy; MEXT and JSPS, Japan; CNRST, Morocco; NWO, Netherlands; RCN, Norway; MEiN, Poland; FCT, Portugal; MNE/IFA, Romania; MESTD, Serbia; MSSR, Slovakia; ARRS and MIZ\u0160, Slovenia; DSI/NRF, South Africa; MICINN, Spain; SRC and Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden; SERI, SNSF and Cantons of Bern and Geneva, Switzerland; MOST, Taiwan; TENMAK, T\u00FCrkiye; STFC, United Kingdom; DOE and NSF, United States of America. In addition, individual groups and members have received support from BCKDF, CANARIE, Compute Canada and CRC, Canada; PRIMUS 21/SCI/017 and UNCE SCI/013, Czech Republic; COST, ERC, ERDF, Horizon 2020 and Marie Sk\u0142odowska-Curie Actions, European Union; Investissements d\u2019Avenir Labex, Investissements d\u2019Avenir Idex and ANR, France; DFG and AvH Foundation, Germany; Herakleitos, Thales and Aristeia programmes co-financed by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF, Greece; BSF-NSF and MINERVA, Israel; Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, Norway; NCN and NAWA, Poland; La Caixa Banking Foundation, CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya and PROMETEO and GenT Programmes Generalitat Valenciana, Spain; G\u00F6ran Gustafssons Stiftelse, Sweden; The Royal Society and Leverhulme Trust, United Kingdom.
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