Coherent photoproduction of ρ0 vector mesons in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at $$ \sqrt{{\mathrm{s}}_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$ = 5.02 TeV

Abstract Cross sections for the coherent photoproduction of ρ 0 vector mesons in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at $$ \sqrt{{\mathrm{s}}_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$ s NN = 5.02 TeV are reported. The measurements, which rely on the π + π − decay channel, are presented in three regions of rapidity covering the range |y| < 0.8. For each rapidity interval, cross sections are shown for different nuclear-breakup classes defined according to the presence of neutrons measured in the zero-degree calorimeters. The results are compared with predictions based on different models of nuclear shadowing. Finally, the observation of a coherently produced resonance-like structure with a mass around 1.7 GeV/c 2 and a width of about 140 MeV/c 2 is reported and compared with similar observations from other experiments.