Two-photon collisions in deep inelastic lepton-nucleon and lepton-nucleus scattering

We have calculated the μ-pair production via photon-photon collisions in deep-inelastic charged lepton scattering on proton and nuclei, using the equivalent photon approximation. Specific parametrizations were assumed for the proton and the nuclei form factors and the QED photon structure function. Results are given for lepton energies below 300 GeV and virtual photon massesQ ² less than 50 GeV², as functions of the μ-pair mass, the scaling variablex and the electric chargeZ of the hadron target. Using a photon structure function derived from QPM and VDM we also estimate the contribution of γγ collisions to hadron production in these deep inelastic processes.