title: Measurement of mutual coulomb dissociation in sqrt[s(NN)] = 130 GeV Au + Au collisions.
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. The cross section for simultaneous electromagnetic breakup of Au nuclei at a nucleon-nucleon center of mass energy sqrt[s(NN)] = 130 GeV is sigma(MCD) = 3.67+/-0.26 barns, which is comparable to the geometrical cross section. The ratio of the electromagnetic to the total cross section is in good agreement with calculations, as is the neutron multiplicity distribution.
authors.affiliation: Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA.
authors.forename: Mickey
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Denisov
authors.forename: Edmundo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Katzy
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Makeev
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: White