Pion and kaon pair-production in photon-photon collisions

This thesis describes an experiment performed at PEP at SLAC, Stanford, California on the two-photon production of two charged particles. In particular, the formation of the tensor (spin-2) meson f(1270) and its decay into π+π- is investigated. The γγ width is determined, and the dependence of the cross section on the four-momentum transfer, Q2, of one of the virtual photons is studied. The analysis assumes that the f is produced in a pure helicity-2 state which is justified a posteriori from the data. In the process, the reaction γγ→K+K- is studied, both because it forms a potential background to, and for comparison with, the π+π- data. The contribution of the π+π- continuum is analyzed in terms of Born amplitudes at γγ center-of-mass energies below the f mass. A comparison of the π+π- and K+K- continuum is made at high masses. A prediction of the currently most popular theory of strong interactions, Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD), is tested. (Auth.)