Coherent ${\rho }^0$ photoproduction in bulk matter at high energies

Abstract

The momentum transfer $\Delta k$ required for a photon to scatter from a target and emerge as a ${\rho }^0$ decreases as the photon energy $k$ rises. For $k>3\times 10^{14}$ eV, $\Delta k$ is small enough that the interaction cannot be localized to a single nucleus. At still higher energies, photons may coherently scatter elastically from bulk matter and emerge as a ${\rho }^0$, in a manner akin to kaon regeneration. Constructive interference from the different nuclei coherently raises the cross section and the interaction probability rises linearly with energy. At energies above $10^{23}$ eV, coherent conversion is the dominant process; photons interact predominantly as ${\rho }^0$. We compute the coherent scattering probabilities in slabs of lead, water and rock, and discuss the implications of the increased hadronic interaction probabilities for photons on ultra-high energy shower development.

4 pgs. with 4 figures

References in corpus (6)

• Experimental Limit on the Cosmic Diffuse Ultra-high Energy Neutrino Flux
• Experimental Study of Acoustic Ultra-High-Energy Neutrino Detection
• Observation of Two-source Interference in the Photoproduction Reaction $AuAu\to AuAu{\rho }^0$
• $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ Pair Production from 10 GeV to 10 ZeV
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• Particle Interactions in Matter at the Terascale: the Cosmic-Ray Experience