PAIR PRODUCTION OF CHARGED FERMIONS VIA THE 2-PHOTON PROCESS IN EP COLLISIONS

In ep collisions, especially at HERA and at LHC-ep, new kinds of charg ed heavy fermions can be discovered. If they do not participate in the strong interactions, their dominant production channel will be the tw o-photon channel of the electromagnetic interactions. The pair product ion of charged heavy fermions through the two-photon channel is invest igated, and its expected number of events is estimated. Two possibilit ies are considered in the two-photon channel: If the momentum transfer is less than 1 (GeV)(2), the proton is assumed to scatter off a photo n quasi-elastically; hence, the proton form factor is taken into accou nt. On the other hand, if the momentum transfer is more than 1 (GeV)(2 ), partons inside the proton are assumed to scatter off a photon deep inelastically. For a reasonable range for the mass of the charged heav y fermions, it is found that the cross section for their pair producti on through the two-photon channel in ep collisions can be significantl y large at HERA and LHC-ep energies.