Deciphering charmoniumlike exotic states in photon - hadron interactions at RHIC and LHC energies

In this paper we propose the study of the photoproduction of charmoniumlike states in $pp$ collisions at RHIC and LHC energies and estimate the rapidity distribution and total cross sections for the production of the exotic hadrons $Y(3940)$, $X(3915)$, $Z(4430)$ and $Z_c(3900)$. We demonstrate that the experimental analysis of this process can provide complementary and independent checks on these states, and help to understand their underlying nature.