The QCD pomeron in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions : IV. Photonuclear production of vector mesons

The photonuclear production of vector mesons in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions is investigated within the QCD color dipole picture, with particular emphasis on the saturation model. The integrated cross section and the rapidity distribution for the AA → V AA (V = ρ, ω, φ, J/Ψ) process are computed and theoretical estimates for scattering on both light and heavy nuclei are given for the energies of RHIC and LHC. A comparison with the recent STAR data on coherent production of ρ mesons is also presented. Furthermore, we calculate the photoproduction of vector mesons in proton–proton collisions at RHIC, Tevatron and LHC energies