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Hot Topics in Ultra-Peripheral Collisions

G. Baur, C. A. Bertulani, M. Chiu, I. F. Ginzburg, K. Hencken, S. R. Klein, J. Nystrand, K. Piotrzkowski, C. G. Roldao, D. Silvermyr, J. H. Thomas, S. N. White, P. Yepes

hep-exarXiv:hep-ex/0201034

Abstract

Ultra-peripheral collisions of relativistic heavy ions involve long-ranged electromagnetic interactions at impact parameters too large for hadronic interactions to occur. The nuclear charges are large; with the coherent enhancement, the cross sections are also large. Many types of photonuclear and purely electromagnetic interactions are possible. We present here an introduction to ultra-peripheral collisions, and present four of the most compelling physics topics. This note developed from a discussion at a workshop on ``Electromagnetic Probes of Fundamental Physics,'' in Erice, Italy, Oct. 16-21, 2001.

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