Measurement of Mutual Coulomb Dissociation in $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=130$ GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC

Abstract

We report on the first measurement of Mutual Coulomb Dissociation in heavy ion collisions. We employ forward calorimeters to measure neutron multiplicity at beam rapidity in peripheral collisions. The cross-section for simultaneous electromagnetic breakup of Au nuclei at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=130$ GeV is $σ_{MCD}=3.67\pm 0.25$ barns in good agreement with calculations.

This paper has been submitted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett