Searching for enhancement in coalescence of in-jet (anti-)deuterons in proton-proton collisions

Abstract

Recent measurements from ALICE report that “in-jet” nucleons carry a higher probability of forming a deuteron via coalescence than the nucleons from the underlying event (UE). This study makes use of an event shape classifier to separate the “in-jet” deuterons and the deuterons in the UE produced in high multiplicity proton-proton collisions at s=13 TeV. Event shape variables such as transverse spherocity allow the categorization of hard and soft components of an event, which can be divided into two respective classes; “jetty” and “isotropic”. The “jetty” deuterons minus the contribution of the deuterons from the “isotropic” event are taken as “in-jet” deuterons, and the coalescence mechanism is tested. The coalescence is performed with a Wigner function formalism, augmented as an afterburner to . The possible enhancement of the coalescence probability of “in-jet” deuterons is investigated by calculating the coalescence parameter (B2) in different spherocity classes in high-multiplicity pp collisions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024