Abstract
We explore the possibility to observe hard exclusive three-jet production in early LHC runs, corresponding to diffractive dissociation of the incident proton into three jets with large but compensating transverse momenta. This process is sensitive to the proton unintegrated gluon distribution at small x and to the distribution of the three valence quarks in the proton at small transverse distances. The corresponding cross section is calculated using an approach based on kt factorization. According to our estimates, observation of hard diffractive three-jet production at LHC is feasible for jet transverse momenta q⊥∼5 GeV.
Highlights
Cf. [6] In this process one proton stays intact and the other one dissociates into a system of three hard jets separated by a large rapidity gap from the recoil proton, see Fig. 1
Note that we are interested in exclusive three–jet production which constitutes a small fraction of the inclusive single diffraction cross section
Exclusive production corresponds to the region where Rjets is close to unity. This strategy was used recently at the Tevatron [7] where central exclusive dijet production, pp → p + jet + jet + p, in double–Pomeron collisions was measured for the first time
Summary
The integration over the proton recoil variables gives a factor dtdφt. Since our calculation is only done to double logarithmic accuracy, we use the simplest model for the unintegrated gluon distribution as given by the logarithmic derivative of the usual gluon parton distribution xg(x, Q2). The numerical estimates presented below are obtained using the CTEQ6L leading-order gluon distribution as provided by [19]. The integration over the phase space of the three jets was done numerically, restricting the longitudinal momentum fractions to the region. Requiring that the transverse momentum of each jet is larger than a given value q0 = q⊥,min. For the value q0 = 5 GeV we obtain for the integrated three-jet cross section at the LHC energies σ3L−HjCets = 4 pb ·
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
