Transverse momentum dependent production cross sections of charged pions, kaons and protons produced in inclusive e+e− annihilation at s=10.58 GeV

Abstract

We report measurements of the production cross sections of charged pions, kaons, and protons as a function of fractional energy, the event-shape variable called thrust, and the transverse momentum with respect to the thrust axis. These measurements access the transverse momenta created in the fragmentation process, which are of critical importance to the understanding of any transverse-momentum-dependent distribution and fragmentation functions. The low transverse-momentum part of the cross sections can be well described by Gaussians in transverse momentum as is generally assumed but the fractional-energy dependence is nontrivial and different hadron types have varying Gaussian widths. The width of these Gaussians decreases with thrust and shows an initially rising, then decreasing fractional-energy dependence. The widths for pions and kaons are comparable within uncertainties, while those for protons are significantly narrower. These single-hadron cross sections and Gaussian widths are obtained from a 558 fb−1 data sample collected at the ϒ(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e− collider.8 MoreReceived 5 February 2019DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.99.112006Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.Published by the American Physical SocietyPhysics Subject Headings (PhySH)Research AreasFragmentation into hadronsParticle productionQuantum chromodynamicsPhysical SystemsLepton collidersParticles & FieldsNuclear Physics