Exclusive Two-Vector-Meson Production from e^+ e^- Annihilation

Abstract

The exclusive production of pairs of vector mesons with J^{PC} = 1^{--} in e^+ e^- collisions can proceed through e^+ e^- annihilation into two virtual photons. At energies much greater than the meson masses, the cross section is dominated by the independent fragmentation of the virtual photons into the vector mesons. The fragmentation approximation is used to calculate the cross sections and angular distributions for pairs of vector mesons that can be produced at the B factories. The predicted cross sections for rho^0 + rho^0 and rho^0 + phi production agree with recent measurements by the BaBar Collaboration. For the production of two charmonium vector mesons, the nonfragmentation corrections to the cross sections are calculated by using the NRQCD factorization formalism. The predicted cross sections for J/psi + J/psi and J/psi + psi(2S) production are compatible with upper limits set by the Belle Collaboration.