Tensor meson production in proton-proton collisions from the color glass condensate

Abstract

We compute the inclusive cross section of ${f}_{2}$ tensor-meson production in proton-proton collisions at high energy. We use an effective theory inspired from the tensor-meson dominance hypothesis that couples gluons to ${f}_{2}$ mesons. We compute the differential cross section in the ${k}_{\ensuremath{\perp}}$ factorization and in the color glass condensate formalism in the low density regime. We show that the two formalisms are equivalent for this specific observable. Finally, we study the phenomenology of ${f}_{2}$ mesons by comparing theoretical predictions of different parametrizations of the unintegrated gluon distribution function. We find that ${f}_{2}$-meson production is another observable that can be used to put constraints on these distributions.