Inclusive Photon Research Articles

Inclusive photon production at forward rapidities in pp and p–Pb collisions at sqrt{{{s}}_{textrm{NN}}}={5.02} TeV

A study of multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons measured in pp and p–Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision of sqrt{s_{textrm{NN}}}~=~5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector in the forward pseudorapidity region 2.3 <~eta _textrm{lab} ~< 3.9 is presented. Measurements in p–Pb collisions are reported for two beam configurations in which the directions of the proton and lead ion beam were reversed. The pseudorapidity distributions in p–Pb collisions are obtained for seven centrality classes which are defined based on different event activity estimators, i.e., the charged-particle multiplicity measured at midrapidity as well as the energy deposited in a calorimeter at beam rapidity. The inclusive photon multiplicity distributions for both pp and p–Pb collisions are described by double negative binomial distributions. The pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons are compared to those of charged particles at midrapidity in pp collisions and for different centrality classes in p–Pb collisions. The results are compared to predictions from various Monte Carlo event generators. None of the generators considered in this paper reproduces the inclusive photon multiplicity distributions in the reported multiplicity range. The pseudorapidity distributions are, however, better described by the same generators.

Thermal radiation and direct photon production measurements with dielectrons in Pb–Pb and pp collisions

The latest ALICE results on dielectron measurements in Pb–Pb collisions at √SNN = 5.02 TeV, and in minimum-bias (MB) and high-multiplicity (HM) pp collisions at √S = 13 TeV with LHC Run 2 data are reported. The results are compared to the predictions of dielectron yields from known hadronic sources and thermal radiation from the medium. The contribution of virtual direct photons is extracted from the data by fitting the measured invariant mass distributions. We present the direct to inclusive photon ratio, as well as the direct photon yield in both pp and central Pb–Pb collisions.

Jets and photons spectroscopy of Higgs-ALP interactions

Axion-like particles (ALPs) and Higgs bosons can interact in scalar sectors beyond the Standard Model, leading the Higgs boson to decay into pairs of gluons and photons through the ALP interaction and giving rise to resonances in the decay products of the process h → aa → gg + γγ, resembling a spectral-line analysis. We explore this signature to constrain an ALP effective field theory formulation. Our analyses show that the forthcoming runs of the LHC will be capable of probing the ALP-Higgs interaction in the ALP mass range from 0.5 to 60 GeV using an automatized search strategy that adapts to different ALP masses in inclusive jets plus photons final states. Such interaction can also be tested in mass regions where the two and four-photon search channels are currently ineffective.

Applications of pT-xR Variables in Describing Inclusive Cross Sections at the LHC

Invariant inclusive single-particle/jet cross sections in p–p collisions can be factorized in terms of two separable pT dependences, a [pT−s] sector and an [xR−pT−s] sector. Here, we extend our earlier work by analyzing more extensive data to explore various s-dependent attributes and other systematics of inclusive jet, photon and single particle reactions. Approximate power laws in s, pT and xR are found. Physical arguments are given which relate observations to the underlying physics of parton–parton hard scattering and the parton distribution functions in the proton. We show that the A(s,pT) function, introduced in our earlier publication to describe the pT dependence of the inclusive cross section, is directly related to the underlying hard parton–parton scattering for jet production, with little influence from soft physics. In addition to the a function, we introduce another function, the F(s,xR) function that obeys radial scaling for inclusive jets and offers another test of the underlying parton physics. An application to heavy ion physics is given, where we use our variables to determine the transparency of cold nuclear matter to penetrating heavy mesons through the lead nucleus.

Extraction of inclusive photon production at mid-rapidity in p + p and Au + Au collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$$ = 200 GeV

Extraction of inclusive photon production at mid-rapidity in p + p and Au + Au collisions at $$\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$$ = 200 GeV

Photon Detection in heavy-ion experiments

We present the measurements of multiplicity and pseudorapidity distributions of inclusive photons in proton-proton (pp) and heavy-ion (AA) collisions using the Photon Multiplicity Detector (PMD) employed at STAR and ALICE experiments. The working principle, design and features of PMD are discussed. The results are compared to different Monte Carlo (MC) predictions. The dependence of average photon multiplicity on centre-of-mass energy in pp collisions is discussed. The limiting fragmentation scenario for inclusive photon production in both pp and AA collisions are also reported.

Extracting many-body correlators of saturated gluons with precision from inclusive photon+dijet final states in deeply inelastic scattering

We highlight the principal results of a computation in the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory (CGC EFT) of the next-to-leading order (NLO) impact factor for inclusive photon+dijet production at Bjorken $x_{\rm Bj} \ll 1$ in deeply inelastic electron-nucleus (e+A DIS) collisions. When combined with extant results for next-to-leading log $x_{\rm Bj}$ JIMWLK renormalization group (RG) evolution of gauge invariant two-point ("dipole") and four-point ("quadrupole") correlators of light-like Wilson lines, the inclusive photon+dijet e+A DIS cross-section can be determined to $\sim 10$\% accuracy. Our computation simultaneously provides the ingredients to compute fully inclusive DIS, inclusive photon, inclusive dijet and inclusive photon+jet channels to the same accuracy. This makes feasible quantitative extraction of many-body correlators of saturated gluons and precise determination of the saturation scale $Q_{S,A}(x_{\rm Bj})$ at a future Electron-Ion Collider. An interesting feature of our NLO result is the structure of the violation of the soft gluon theorem in the Regge limit. Another is the appearance in gluon emission of time-like non-global logs which also satisfy JIMWLK RG evolution.

NLO impact factor for inclusive photon+dijet production in e+A DIS at small x

We compute the next-to-leading order (NLO) impact factor for inclusive photon $+$dijet production in electron-nucleus (e+A) deeply inelastic scattering (DIS) at small $x$. An important ingredient in our computation is the simple structure of ``shock wave" fermion and gluon propagators. This allows one to employ standard momentum space Feynman diagram techniques for higher order computations in the Regge limit of fixed $Q^2\gg \Lambda_{\rm QCD}^2$ and $x\rightarrow 0$. Our computations in the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective field theory include the resummation of all-twist power corrections $Q_s^2/Q^2$, where $Q_s$ is the saturation scale in the nucleus. We discuss the structure of ultraviolet, collinear and soft divergences in the CGC, and extract the leading logs in $x$; the structure of the corresponding rapidity divergences gives a nontrivial first principles derivation of the JIMWLK renormalization group evolution equation for multiparton lightlike Wilson line correlators. Explicit expressions are given for the $x$-independent $O(\alpha_s)$ contributions that constitute the NLO impact factor. These results, combined with extant results on NLO JIMWLK evolution, provide the ingredients to compute the inclusive photon $+$ dijet cross-section at small $x$ to $O(\alpha_s^3 \ln(x))$. First results for the NLO impact factor in inclusive dijet production are recovered in the soft photon limit. A byproduct of our computation is the LO photon+ 3 jet (quark-antiquark-gluon) cross-section.

Combining the small-x evolution and DGLAP for description of inclusive photon induced processes

We study amplitudes of the inclusive photon induced high-energy processes: elastic Compton scattering off hadrons and photoproduction. Although description of these amplitudes includes both non-perturbative and perturbative contributions, QCD factorization makes possible to study them separately. Throughout the present paper we focus on the perturbative amplitudes and study such amplitudes in all available in the literature forms of QCD factorization: Collinear, K_T and Basic. As a result, we obtain expressions for the perturbative Compton amplitudes, which can be used at arbitrary x and Q^2 in any form of QCD factorization. Putting Q^2 = 0 in those expressions allows us to obtain expressions for the perturbative components of the photoproduction amplitudes. The small-x asymptotics of the Compton amplitudes in any form of QCD factorization are of the Regge type, with the Reggeon being a double-logarithmic (non-BFKL) contribution to Pomeron.

Direct photon production at low transverse momentum in proton-proton collisions at s=2.76 and 8 TeV

Measurements of inclusive and direct photon production at mid-rapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}=2.76$ and 8 TeV are presented by the ALICE experiment at the LHC. The results are reported in transverse momentum ranges of $0.4<p_{T}<10$ GeV/$c$ and $0.3<p_{T}<16$ GeV/$c$, respectively. Photons are detected with the electromagnetic calorimeter~(EMCal) and via reconstruction of e$^+$e$^-$ pairs from conversions in the ALICE detector material using the central tracking system. For the final measurement of the inclusive photon spectra the results are combined in the overlapping $p_{T}$ interval of both methods. Direct photon spectra, or their upper limits at 90% C.L. are extracted using the direct photon excess ratio $R_{\gamma}$, which quantifies the ratio of inclusive photons over decay photons generated with a decay-photon simulation. An additional hybrid method, combining photons reconstructed from conversions with those identified in the EMCal, is used for the combination of the direct photon excess ratio $R_{\gamma}$, as well as the extraction of direct photon spectra or their upper limits. While no significant signal of direct photons is seen over the full $p_{T}$ range, $R_{\gamma}$ for $p_{T}>7$ GeV/$c$ is at least one $\sigma$ above unity and consistent with expectations from next-to-leading order pQCD calculations.

Measurement of dielectron production in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76TeV

The first measurement of dielectron ($\mathrm{e}^{+}\mathrm{e}^{-}$) production in central (0$-$10$\%$) Pb-Pb collisions at $\mathbf{\sqrt{{\textit{s}}_{\mathrm{NN}}}}$ = 2.76 TeV at the LHC is presented. The dielectron invariant-mass spectrum is compared to the expected contributions from hadron decays in the invariant-mass range $0 < m_{\mathrm{ee}}<3.5\ \mathrm{GeV}/\textit{c}^{2}$. The ratio of data and the cocktail of hadronic contributions without vacuum $\rho^{0}$ is measured in the invariant-mass range $0.15 < m_{\mathrm{ee}}<0.7\ \mathrm{GeV}/\textit{c}^{2}$, where an excess of dielectrons is observed in other experiments, and its value is $1.40 \pm 0.28\ (\mathrm{stat.}) \pm 0.08\ (\mathrm{syst.}) \pm 0.27\ (\mathrm{cocktail})$. The dielectron spectrum measured in the invariant mass range $0 < m_{\mathrm{ee}}<1\ \mathrm{GeV}/\textit{c}^{2}$ is consistent with the predictions from two theoretical model calculations that include thermal dielectron production from both partonic and hadronic phases with in-medium broadened $\rho^{0}$ meson. The fraction of direct virtual photons over inclusive virtual photons is extracted for dielectron pairs with invariant mass $0.1 < m_{\mathrm{ee}}<0.3\ \mathrm{GeV}/\textit{c}^{2}$, and in the transverse-momentum intervals $1<p_{\mathrm{T}, \mathrm{ee}}<2\ \mathrm{GeV}/\textit{c}$ and $2<p_{\mathrm{T}, \mathrm{ee}}<4\ \mathrm{GeV}/\textit{c}$. The measured fraction of virtual direct photons is consistent with the measurement of real direct photons by ALICE and with the expectations from previous dielectron measurements at RHIC within the experimental uncertainties.

Constraining unintegrated gluon distributions from inclusive photon production in proton–proton collisions at the LHC

We compute the leading order (LO) qg→qγ and next-to-leading order (NLO) gg→qq¯γ contributions to inclusive photon production in proton–proton (p+p) collisions at the LHC. These channels provide the dominant contribution at LO and NLO for photon transverse momenta kγ⊥ corresponding to momentum fractions of x≤0.01 in the colliding protons. Our computations, performed in the dilute–dense framework of the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory (CGC EFT), show that the NLO contribution dominates at small-x because it is sensitive to k⊥-dependent unintegrated gluon distributions in both of the protons. We predict a maximal 10% modification of the cross section at low kγ⊥ as a direct consequence of the violation of k⊥-factorization. The coherence effects responsible for this modification are enhanced in nuclei and can be identified from inclusive photon measurements in proton–nucleus collisions. We provide numerical results for the isolated inclusive photon cross section for kγ⊥≤20 GeV in p+p collisions that can be tested in the future at the LHC.

Direct photon elliptic flow in Pb–Pb collisions at [formula omitted

The elliptic flow of inclusive and direct photons was measured by ALICE for central and semi-central Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76TeV. The photons were reconstructed using the electromagnetic calorimeter PHOS and the central tracking system. The inclusive photon flow reconstructed with both methods are combined and used to extract the direct photon flow, using a decay photon simulation and the direct photon excess Rγ, in the transverse momentum range 0.9 <pT < 6.2 GeV/c. We find that the theoretical predictions generally under-predict the results.

Measurement of differential cross sections for inclusive isolated-photon and photon+jet production in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13,text {TeV}

Measurements of inclusive isolated-photon and photon+jet production in proton–proton collisions at sqrt{s} = 13,text {TeV} are presented. The analysis uses data collected by the CMS experiment in 2015, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 2.26,text {fb}^{-1}. The cross section for inclusive isolated photon production is measured as a function of the photon transverse energy in a fiducial region. The cross section for photon+jet production is measured as a function of the photon transverse energy in the same fiducial region with identical photon requirements and with the highest transverse momentum jet. All measurements are in agreement with predictions from next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD.

Analysis of Isolated Photons in Photoproduction in PYTHIA

Collision of particles at high energies at accelerators is the main source of data used to obtain deeper understanding of the fundamental interactions and the structure of the matter. Processes of isolated photon production have provided many tests of theoretical descriptions of the universe on scales smaller than the proton. This work is dedicated to the analysis of the large amount of collision data that has been accumulated at ZEUS in 2004-2007 period and new methods of processing isolated photons that have been proposed. The authors develop software algorithms that allow obtaining the signal of isolated photons from the data collected on the ZEUS detector at electron-proton collider HERA, calculating the differential cross sections, and comparing the measured data with PYTHIA Monte Carlo predictions. Taking into account the features of the ZEUS detector, the photon signal is separated from the background events and the number of isolated photons is calculated. Computational mathematical and numerical methods have been used to simulate the interaction of particles in the detector. Monte Carlo predictions for differential cross sections as functions of the pseudorapidity and transverse energy of the photon ηg, ETg and the jet ηjet, ETjet, and the fraction of the photon momentum хgmeas carried by the interacting parton have been calculated and compared with the experimental data. The results of the study are compared with the previous studies and show for the first time that all isolated photon HERA measurements are consistent with each other. New results show improved uncertainties. The formation of isolated inclusive photons and photons with the accompanying jet was measured in photoproduction with ZEUS detector at HERA collider using the integrated luminosity of 374 ± 7 pb-1. For the first time, more complex Monte-Carlo simulation models of isolated photons for ZEUS detector were generated and applied, and the description of the photon signal was improved. It has been found that PYTHIA describes the shape of the cross section as a function of ηg well enough, but does not fully reproduce the shape of ETg, ETjet, and the middle region of хgmeas, while ηjet is described not very well. The reason for this discrepancy can be the lack of corrections of higher orders in the predictions for cross sections of direct photons. Scaling of the cross sections obtained with PYTHIA improves the description of ETg and ηg. The unsatisfactory description of ηjet indicates that further studies are required.

Observation of ϒ(2S)→γηb(1S) Decay

We report the observation of ϒ(2S)→γη_{b}(1S) decay based on an analysis of the inclusive photon spectrum of 24.7 fb^{-1} of e^{+}e^{-} collisions at the ϒ(2S) center-of-mass energy collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e^{+}e^{-} collider. We measure a branching fraction of B[ϒ(2S)→γη_{b}(1S)]=(6.1_{-0.7-0.6}^{+0.6+0.9})×10^{-4} and derive an η_{b}(1S) mass of 9394.8_{-3.1-2.7}^{+2.7+4.5} MeV/c^{2}, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The significance of our measurement is greater than 7 standard deviations, constituting the first observation of this decay mode.

Direct photon elliptic flow in Pb–Pb collisions at [formula omitted] TeV

The elliptic flow of inclusive and direct photons was measured at mid-rapidity in two centrality classes 0–20% and 20–40% in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN=2.76 TeV by ALICE. Photons were detected with the highly segmented electromagnetic calorimeter PHOS and via conversions in the detector material with the e+e− pairs reconstructed in the central tracking system. The results of the two methods were combined and the direct-photon elliptic flow was extracted in the transverse momentum range 0.9<pT<6.2GeV/c. A comparison to RHIC data shows a similar magnitude of the measured direct-photon elliptic flow. Hydrodynamic and transport model calculations are systematically lower than the data, but are found to be compatible.

Inclusive prompt photon production in electron-nucleus scattering at small x

We compute the differential cross-section for inclusive prompt photon production in deeply inelastic scattering (DIS) of electrons on nuclei at small x in the framework of the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective theory. The leading order (LO) computation in this framework resums leading logarithms in x as well as power corrections to all orders in Qs, A2/Q2, where Qs,A(x) is the nuclear saturation scale. This LO result is proportional to universal dipole and quadrupole Wilson line correlators in the nucleus. In the soft photon limit, the Low-Burnett-Kroll theorem allows us to recover existing results on inclusive DIS dijet production. The k⊥ and collinearly factorized expressions for prompt photon production in DIS are also recovered in a leading twist approximation to our result. In the latter case, our result corresponds to the dominant next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD contribution at small x. We next discuss the computation of the NLO corrections to inclusive prompt photon production in the CGC framework. In particular, we emphasize the advantages for higher order computations in inclusive photon production, and for fully inclusive DIS, arising from the simple momentum space structure of the dressed quark and gluon “shock wave” propagators in the “wrong” light cone gauge A− = 0 for a nucleus moving with PN+ → ∞.

Inclusive Prompt Photons from the Color Glass Condensate at NLO

The cross-section for photons radiated by quarks in proton-nucleus collisions at collider energies was obtained using the Color Glass Condensate framework, in the dense-dilute kinematics regime. We observe that the inclusive photon cross-section is proportional to all-twist Wilson line correlators in the nucleus. These correlators also appear in quark-pair production; unlike the latter, photon production is insensitive to hadronization uncertainties and therefore more sensitive to multi-parton correlations in the gluon saturation regime of QCD.

Prompt photon production and photon-jet correlations at the LHC

Next-to-leading order predictions matched to parton showers are compared with recent ATLAS data on isolated photon production and CMS data on associated photon and jet production in pp and pPb collisions at different centre-of-mass energies of the LHC. We find good agreement and, as expected, considerably reduced scale uncertainties compared to previous theoretical calculations. Predictions are made for the ratio of inclusive photons over decay photons Rγ , an important quantity to evaluate the significance of additional photon sources, e.g. thermal radiation from a Quark-Gluon-Plasma, and for distributions in the parton momentum fraction in lead ions xPbobs, that could be determined by ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb in ongoing analyses of photon+jet production in pPb collisions at sqrt{s_{N N}} = 5.02 TeV. These data should have an important impact on the determination of nuclear effects such as shadowing at low x.