Photoproduction Cross Section Research Articles

First measurement of helicity-dependent cross sections in π0η photoproduction from quasi-free nucleons

The helicity-dependent cross sections for the photoproduction of π0η pairs have been measured for the first time. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon facility of the Mainz MAMI accelerator with the combined Crystal Ball – TAPS calorimeter. The experiment used a polarized deuterated butanol target and a circularly polarized photon beam. This arrangement allowed the σ1/2 (photon and target spin antiparallel) and σ3/2 (parallel spins) components to be measured for quasi-free production of π0η pairs off protons and neutrons. The main finding is that the two helicity components contribute identically, within uncertainties, for both participant protons and neutrons. The absolute couplings for protons and neutrons are also identical. This means that nucleon resonances contributing to this reaction in the investigated energy range have almost equal electromagnetic helicity couplings, A1/2n,p and A3/2n,p. Identical couplings for protons and neutrons are typical for Δ resonances and identical A1/2 and A3/2 components are only possible for J≥3/2 states, which constrains possible contributions of nucleon resonances.

Central exclusive production of J/\u03c8 and \u03c8(2S) mesons in pp collisions at sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Measurements are reported of the central exclusive production of J/ψ and ψ(2S) mesons in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Backgrounds are significantly reduced compared to previous measurements made at lower energies through the use of new forward shower counters. The products of the cross-sections and the branching fractions for the decays to dimuons, where both muons are within the pseudorapidity range 2.0 < η < 4.5, are measured to beσJ/ψ→μ+μ−=435±18±11±17pbσψ2S→μ+μ−=11.1±1.1±0.3±0.4pb.\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal}\t\t\t\t\\usepackage{amsmath}\t\t\t\t\\usepackage{wasysym}\t\t\t\t\\usepackage{amsfonts}\t\t\t\t\\usepackage{amssymb}\t\t\t\t\\usepackage{amsbsy}\t\t\t\t\\usepackage{mathrsfs}\t\t\t\t\\usepackage{upgreek}\t\t\t\t\\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt}\t\t\t\t\\begin{document}$$ \\begin{array}{c}\\hfill {\\sigma}_{J/\\psi \\to {\\mu}^{+}{\\mu}^{-}} = 435 \\pm 18 \\pm 11 \\pm 17\\ \\mathrm{p}\\mathrm{b}\\hfill \\\\ {}\\hfill {\\sigma}_{\\psi (2S)\\to {\\mu}^{+}{\\mu}^{-}} = 11.1 \\pm 1.1 \\pm 0.3 \\pm 0.4\\ \\mathrm{p}\\mathrm{b}.\\hfill \\end{array} $$\\end{document}The first uncertainties are statistical, the second are systematic, and the third are due to the luminosity determination. The cross-sections are also measured differentially for meson rapidities between 2.0 and 4.5. Good agreement is observed with theoretical predictions. Photoproduction cross-sections are derived and compared to previous experiments, and a deviation from a pure power-law extrapolation of lower energy data is observed.

Erratum to: Exclusive photoproduction of a γ ρ pair with a large invariant mass

An unfortunate misprint in our numerical code has led to an overestimate of the cross section for the exclusive photoproduction of a γ ρL pair in the kinematics where the pair has a large invariant mass and the final nucleon has a small transverse momentum, described in the collinear factorization framework. The rates are thus expected to be smaller but the possibility to disentangle the transversity GPDs through the process where the ρ−meson is transversely polarized is enhanced.

Exclusive photoproduction of π0 up to large values of Mandelstam variables s,t, and u with CLAS

Exclusive photoproduction cross sections have been measured for the process $\gamma p \rightarrow p\pi^0(e^+e^-(\gamma))$ with the Dalitz decay final state using tagged photon energies in the range of $E_{\gamma} = 1.275-5.425$ GeV. The complete angular distribution of the final state $\pi^0$, for the entire photon energy range up to large values of $t$ and $u$, has been measured for the first time. The data obtained show that the cross section $d\sigma/dt$, at mid to large angles, decreases with energy as $s^{-6.89\pm 0.26} $. This is in agreement with the perturbative QCD quark counting rule prediction of $s^{-7} $. Paradoxically, the size of angular distribution of measured cross sections is greatly underestimated by the QCD based Generalized Parton Distribution mechanism at highest available invariant energy $s=11$ GeV$^2$. At the same time, the Regge exchange based models for $\pi^0$ photoproduction are more consistent with experimental data.

Differential cross section for γd → ωd using CLAS at Jefferson Lab

The cross section for coherent ω-meson photoproduction off the deuteron has been measured for the first time as a function of the momentum transfer t=(Pγ−Pω)2 and photon energy Eγ using the CLAS detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The cross sections are measured in the energy range 1.4<Eγ<3.4 GeV. A model based on ω−N rescattering is consistent with the data at low and intermediate momentum transfer, |t|. For 2.8<Eγ<3.4 GeV, the total cross-section of ω−N scattering, based on fits within the framework of the Vector Meson Dominance model, is in the range of 30–40 mb.

Predicting K0Λ photoproduction observables by using the multipole approach

We present an isobar model for kaon photoproduction on the proton $$\gamma p\to K^+\Lambda$$ that can nicely reproduce the available experimental data from threshold up to $$W=2.0$$ GeV. The background amplitude of the model is constructed from a covariant Feynman diagrammatic method, whereas the resonance one is formulated by using the multipole approach. All unknown parameters in both background and resonance amplitudes are extracted by adjusting the calculated observables to experimental data. With the help of SU(3) isospin symmetry and some information obtained from the Particle Data Group we estimate the cross section and polarization observables for the neutral kaon photoproduction on the neutron $$\gamma n\to K^0\Lambda$$. The result indicates no sharp peak in the $$K^0\Lambda$$ total cross section. The predicted differential cross section exhibits resonance structures only at $$\cos\theta=-1$$. To obtain sizable observables the present work recommends measurement of the $$K^0\Lambda$$ cross section with $$W\gtrsim 1.70$$ GeV, whereas for the recoiled $$\Lambda$$ polarization measurement with $$W\approx 1.65$$–1.90 GeV would be advised, since the predictions of existing models show a large variance at this kinematics. The predicted electric and magnetic multipoles are found to be mostly different from those obtained in previous works. For $$W=1.75$$ and 1.95 GeV it is found that most of the single and double polarization observables demonstrate large asymmetries.

Coherent J/ψ photoproduction in ultra-peripheral PbPb collisions at [formula omitted] with the CMS experiment

The cross section for coherent J/ψ photoproduction accompanied by at least one neutron on one side of the interaction point and no neutron activity on the other side, Xn0n, is measured with the CMS experiment in ultra-peripheral PbPb collisions at sNN=2.76TeV. The analysis is based on a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 159μb−1, collected during the 2011 PbPb run. The J/ψ mesons are reconstructed in the dimuon decay channel, while neutrons are detected using zero degree calorimeters. The measured cross section is dσXn0ncoh/dy(J/ψ)=0.36±0.04(stat)±0.04(syst) mb in the rapidity interval 1.8<|y|<2.3. Using a model for the relative rate of coherent photoproduction processes, this Xn0n measurement gives a total coherent photoproduction cross section of dσcoh/dy(J/ψ)=1.82±0.22(stat)±0.20(syst)±0.19(theo) mb. The data strongly disfavor the impulse approximation model prediction, indicating that nuclear effects are needed to describe coherent J/ψ photoproduction in γ+Pb interactions. The data are found to be consistent with the leading twist approximation, which includes nuclear gluon shadowing.

Production of Charmonium at Threshold in Hall A and C at Jefferson Lab

We describe in this paper two approved experiments in Hall A and Hall C at Jefferson Lab that will investigate the pure gluonic component of the strong interaction of Quantum Chromodynamics by measuring the elastic $$J/\psi $$ electro and photo-production cross section in the threshold region as well as explore the nature of the recently discovered LHCb charmed pentaquarks.

First measurement of the polarization observable E and helicity-dependent cross sections in single π0 photoproduction from quasi-free nucleons

The double-polarization observable E and the helicity-dependent cross sections σ1/2 and σ3/2 have been measured for the first time for single π0 photoproduction from protons and neutrons bound in the deuteron at the electron accelerator facility MAMI in Mainz, Germany. The experiment used a circularly polarized photon beam and a longitudinally polarized deuterated butanol target. The reaction products, recoil nucleons and decay photons from the π0 meson were detected with the Crystal Ball and TAPS electromagnetic calorimeters. Effects from nuclear Fermi motion were removed by a kinematic reconstruction of the π0N final state. A comparison to data measured with a free proton target showed that the absolute scale of the cross sections is significantly modified by nuclear final-state interaction (FSI) effects. However, there is no significant effect on the asymmetry E since the σ1/2 and σ3/2 components appear to be influenced in a similar way. Thus, the best approximation of the two helicity-dependent cross sections for the free neutron is obtained by combining the asymmetry E measured with quasi-free neutrons and the unpolarized cross section corrected for FSI effects under the assumption that the FSI effects are similar for neutrons and protons.

Charmonium production in pp, pPb and PbPb collisions with CMS

The LHC Run 1 results of the analysis of charmonium production in pp, pPb and PbPb collisions with the CMS experiment are reported. The coherent J/ψ photoproduction cross section is measured as a function of rapidity in ultra-peripheral PbPb collisions at 2.76 TeV. The forward-backward ratio of prompt J/ψ yields in pPb collisions at 5.02 TeV is presented as a function of the event activity and pT. The nuclear modification factor of prompt J/ψ in PbPb collisions at 2.76 TeV is shown as a function of rapidity, centrality and pT. Finally, the ratio of ψ(2S) to J/ψ yields in PbPb collisions with respect to pp collisions at 2.76 TeV is analysed in different rapidity and centrality bins.

Inelastic scattering of fast neutrons from56Fe

The inelastic scattering of fast neutrons on 56 Fe was investigated in different manners at the neutron time-of-flight facility n ELBE. The scattering cross section was determined via the measurement of the γ-ray production and by means of a kinematically complete double time-of-flight method. In a further measurement the γ-ray angular distribution was determined to correct the measured cross sections for anisotropy. The resulting inelastic scattering cross section determined from the photo production cross sections is in very good agreement with evaluations and previous measurements. In contrast, the result of the double time-of-flight measurement is about 10% lower than these data, giving a hint to neutron-γ-ray angular correlations in the process of inelastic neutron scattering.

Experimental investigation of ρ0 photoproduction on the pion in the H1 experiment

Experimental results on quasielastic photoproduction of the ρ0 meson in association with a neutron, obtained at the HERA collider, are presented. The total and differential cross sections of the γp → ρ0 nπ+ reaction at the positron–proton center-of-mass energy of √s =319 GeV are measured. The data collected with the H1 detector in 2006 and 2007 correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.16 pb−1. The kinematic region of the photon–proton cms energy of 20 < W γp <100 GeV, photon virtuality of Q 2 < 2 GeV2, and the ρ0 transverse momentum below 1 GeV/c is analyzed. Secondary neutrons with energies x L > 0.35 (in proton-energy units) and emission angles below 0.75 mrad are selected. The model of double peripheral exchange, in which the ρ0 is elastically produced via the photon interaction with the virtual pion from the proton–neutron vertex, is employed for interpreting the results. The cross section for the ρ0 elastic photoproduction on the pion, γπ+→ ρ0π+, is extracted in the one-pion-exchange approximation. The magnitude of the cross section suggests that the γp → ρ0 nπ+ reaction is significantly affected by absorption.

BFKL evolution and the growth with energy of exclusiveJ/Ψandϒphotoproduction cross sections

We investigate whether the Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov (BFKL) low x evolution equation is capable to describe the energy dependence of the exclusive photo-production cross-section of vector mesons J/Psi and Upsilon on protons. Such cross-sections have been measured by both HERA experiments H1 and ZEUS in electron-proton collisions and by LHC experiments ALICE, CMS and LHCb in ultra-peripheral proton-proton and ultra-peripheral proton-lead collisions. Our approach provides a perturbative description of the rise with energy and relies only on a fit of the initial transverse momentum profile of the proton impact factor, which can be extracted from BFKL fits to inclusive HERA data. We find that BFKL evolution is capable to provide a very good description of the energy dependence of the current data set, while the available fits of the proton impact factor require an adjustment in the overall normalization.

A fresh look at factorization breaking in diffractive photoproduction of dijets at HERA at next-to-leading order QCD

We calculate the cross section of diffractive dijet photoproduction in $ep$ scattering at next-to-leading order (NLO) of perturbative QCD (pQCD), which we supplement by a model of factorization breaking for the resolved-photon contribution. In this model, the suppression depends on the flavor and momentum fraction of the partons in the photon. We show that within experimental and theoretical uncertainties, the resulting approach provides a good description of the available HERA data in most of the bins. Hence, taken together with the observation that NLO pQCD explains well the data on diffractive photoproduction of open charm in $ep$ scattering, our model of factorization breaking presents a viable alternative to the scheme based on the global suppression factor.

Coherent photoproduction of vector mesons in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions: Update for run 2 at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

We make predictions for the cross sections of coherent photoproduction of $\rho$, $\phi$, $J/\psi$, $\psi(2S)$, and $\Upsilon(1S)$ mesons in Pb-Pb ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=5.02$ TeV in the kinematics of run 2 at the Large Hadron Collider extending the approaches successfully describing the available Pb-Pb UPC data at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=2.76$ TeV. Our results illustrate the important roles of hadronic fluctuations of the photon and inelastic nuclear shadowing in photoproduction of light vector mesons on nuclei and the large leading twist nuclear gluon shadowing in photoproduction of quarkonia on nuclei. We show that the ratio of $\psi(2S)$ and $J/\psi$ photoproduction cross sections in Pb-Pb UPCs is largely determined by the ratio of these cross sections on the proton. We also argue that UPCs with electromagnetic excitations of the colliding ions followed by the forward neutron emission allows one to significantly increase the range of photon energies accessed in vector meson photoproduction on nuclei.

Diffractive dijet photoproduction in ultraperipheral collisions at the LHC in next-to-leading order QCD

We make predictions for the cross sections of diffractive dijet photoproduction in $pp$, $pA$ and $AA$ ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) at the LHC during Runs 1 and 2 using next-to-leading perturbative QCD. We find that the resulting cross sections are sufficiently large and, compared to lepton-proton scattering at HERA, have an enhanced sensitivity to small observed momentum fractions in the diffractive exchange, commonly denoted $z_{P}^{\rm jets}$, and an unprecedented reach in the invariant mass of the photon-nucleon system $W$. We examine two competing schemes of diffractive QCD factorization breaking, which assume either a global suppression factor or a suppression for resolved photons only and demonstrate that the two scenarios can be distinguished by the nuclear dependence of the distributions in the observed parton momentum fraction in the photon $x_{\gamma}^{\rm jets}$.

On the extraction of cross sections for π0 and η photoproduction off neutrons from deuteron data

We discuss the procedure of extracting the photoproduction cross section for neutral pseudoscalar mesons off neutrons from deuteron data. The main statement is that the final-state interaction (FSI) corrections for the proton and neutron target are in general not equal, but for pi0 production there are special cases were they have to be identical and there are large regions in the parameter space of incident photon energy and pion polar angle, \theta^*, where they happen to be quite similar. The corrections for both target nucleons are practically identical for $\pi_0$ production in the energy range of the Delta(1232)3/2+ resonance due to the specific isospin structure of this excitation. Also above the $\Delta$-isobar range large differences between proton and neutron correction factors are only predicted for extreme forward angles ($\theta^*$ < 20 deg), but the results are similar for larger angles. Numerical results for the gp-->pi0p and gn-->pi0n correction factors are discussed. Also the model description for the available data on the differential gd-->pi0pn cross sections are given.

Probing the gluon density of the proton in the exclusive photoproduction of vector mesons at the LHC: a phenomenological analysis

The current uncertainty on the gluon density extracted from the global parton analysis is large in the kinematical range of small values of the Bjorken - $x$ variable and low values of the hard scale $Q^2$. An alternative to reduces this uncertainty is the analysis of the exclusive vector meson photoproduction in photon - hadron and hadron - hadron collisions. This process offers a unique opportunity to constrain the gluon density of the proton, since its cross section is proportional to the gluon density squared. In this paper we consider current parametrizations for the gluon distribution and estimate the exclusive vector meson photoproduction cross section at HERA and LHC using the leading logarithmic formalism. We perform a fit of the normalization of the $\gamma h$ cross section and the value of the hard scale for the process and demonstrate that the current LHCb experimental data are better described by models that assume a slow increasing of the gluon distribution at small - $x$ and low $Q^2$.

Thresholdπ−production on the deuteron

An experiment that aims to measure the π- photoproduction cross-section σ(E) on the deuteron γ + 2H → π- + 2p near threshold is discussed. The main concepts of the experimental technique are presented alongside some preliminary signals.

Photoproduction ofJ/ψand ϒ in exclusive and proton dissociative diffractive events

The amplitude for $\gamma p \to V p$, where $V$ is a $J/\psi$ or $\Upsilon$ ground state or excited vector meson, is calculated in a pQCD $k_{T}$-factorization approach. We use this amplitude to predict the cross section for exclusive photoproduction of $J/\psi, \psi', \Upsilon$ mesons in proton-proton collisions. Calculations are performed for a variety of unintegrated gluon distributions, and we compare our results to LHCb data. Here we especially focus on the possibilty of constraining saturation effects. Compared to earlier calculations we include both Dirac and Pauli electromagnetic form factors. We discuss the role of the $Q\bar Q$ light-cone wave functions for differential distributions for ratios such as $\sigma(\psi')/\sigma(J/\psi)$. Absorption effects are always taken into account. We also discuss the related diffractive production in proton dissociative events. Here we concentrate on electromagnetic dissociation , which is calculable without additional free parameters. Besides being of interest in their own right, dissociative events constitute an important experimental background to exclusive production.