  The differential cross section for the production of direct photons in p+p
collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV at midrapidity was measured in the PHENIX
detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Inclusive-direct photons were
measured in the transverse-momentum range from 5.5--25 GeV/c, extending the
range beyond previous measurements. Event structure was studied with an
isolation criterion. Next-to-leading-order perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics
calculations give a good description of the spectrum. When the cross section is
expressed versus x_T, the PHENIX data are seen to be in agreement with
measurements from other experiments at different center-of-mass energies.
