Abstract
Deuteron production in high-energy collisions is sensitive to the space–time evolution of the collision system, and is typically described by a coalescence mechanism. For the first time, we present results on jet-associated deuteron production in pp collisions at s=13 TeV, providing an opportunity to test the established picture for deuteron production in events with a hard scattering. Using a trigger particle with high transverse-momentum (pT>5 GeV/c) as a proxy for the presence of a jet at midrapidity, we observe a measurable population of deuterons being produced around the jet proxy. The associated deuteron yield measured in a narrow angular range around the trigger particle differs by 2.4–4.8 standard deviations from the uncorrelated background. The data are described by PYTHIA model calculations featuring baryon coalescence.
Highlights
Measurements of deuterons in high-energy collisions provide insight into baryon production and baryon transport mechanisms which are sensitive to the space–time evolution of the collision system
The per-trigger associated yield Ydeuteron versus ∆φ, which represents the probability of deuterons and anti-deuterons being found within a specified particles with transverse momentum (pT) interval and within ∆φ of a high-pT (> 5 GeV/c) trigger hadron, is shown in Fig. 2 for five deuteron pT intervals
Several independent sources of uncertainty associated with tracking, particle identification, sideband correction, and purity, as well as efficiency and acceptance were included into the total systematic uncertainty
Summary
Measurements of deuterons in high-energy collisions provide insight into baryon production and baryon transport mechanisms which are sensitive to the space–time evolution of the collision system. Deuteron production can be described by phenomenological models, according to which an (anti-)neutron and (anti-)proton close in phase-space coalesce and bind together [16,17,18]. The azimuthal correlation of deuteron candidates with respect to the trigger particle is measured in five pT intervals between 1 and 4 GeV/c. The integrated yields of associated deuterons obtained within an azimuthal range of 0.7 rad relative to the trigger particle, representing the region of jet fragmentation, are reported as a function of deuteron pT. The smaller phase space provided by the jet fragmentation may promote deuteron production. The data are compared to model calculations based on PYTHIA (v8) with a coalescence afterburner [29]
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