Charged-meson pair production in gammaγ interactions

The cross section for the production of ${\pi }^{+}$${\pi }^{\mathrm{-}}$ or $K^{+}$$K^{\mathrm{-}}$ pairs in γγ interactions is measured for $m_{\pi \pi }$ between 1.7 and 3.5 GeV/$c^2$ and for two intervals of γγ center-of-mass scattering angle. Results are compared with predictions of a QCD model.