The physics that can be learnt by studying exclusive channels in two photon interactions is recalled. This serves as an introduction to the Exclusive Reaction session of Photon'99.
WHY EXCLUSIVE CHANNELSOur main source of information about two photon interactions is the classic Weizsäcker-Williams process e + e − → e + e − X, where for exclusive channels X is typically two to six mesons or a baryon-antibaryon final state. The bulk of the data is obtained without tagging. Then, thanks to the behaviour of the photon propagator, the photons are almost on-shell. By factoring off the known e + e − γ vertices, we learn about real γγ reactions -see for example [1]. With tagging one can, of course, also investigate important γ * γ collisions. I will not review these, but rather refer to the later talk of Bernard Pire [2]. We can also study the time reversed process, as in E835 at Fermilab, by looking at pp → γγ [3]. Now consider the γγ → M M cross-section as a function of the γγ c.m. energy W . A typical example is shown in Fig. 1. There one sees the crosssection rise from threshold, then have structure and subsequently decline. This cross-section naturally divides into three kinematic regions which correspond to three different dynamical regimes. In each case the photon couples to the electric charge of a point-like object, but what it sees as point-like changes with energy. At low energy, close to threshold, the photon has long wavelength and sees the whole of the final state hadron and couples to its electric charge. This teaches us about hadron dynamics. As the energy increases and the wavelength of the photon shortens, it sees the charged components of the hadron, the constituent quarks. Coupling to them, it causes them * Travel supported by EEC-TMR Network EuroDAΦNE, Contract No. CT98-0169.