Evidence of Spin-Interference Effects in Exclusive $J/ψ\to e^+e^-$ Photoproduction in Ultraperipheral Heavy-Ion Collisions

Abstract

We report the first evidence of spin interference in exclusive $J/ψ\to e^+e^-$ photoproduction in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions at STAR at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200$~GeV. In Au+Au collisions, a negative $\cos(2ϕ)$ modulation is found for $p_T < 120$~MeV/$c$ with a significance of $3.2σ$, while the isobar data (Ru+Ru, Zr+Zr) show a consistent negative modulation with a significance of $1.9σ$, opposite in sign to that in $ρ^{0}\!\to\!π^+π^-$ photoproduction. This establishes for the first time that the interference sign is controlled by the spin structure of the final-state daughters, resolving the ambiguity present in the all-boson $ρ^0$ channel. The compact $J/ψ$ probes gluon distributions at perturbative scales, resulting in a weaker modulation and providing stringent constraints on Color Glass Condensate calculations. These findings demonstrate that spin-dependent interference in heavy vector mesons provides a new, experimentally accessible handle on gluon structure beyond traditional cross-section measurements.