Quark Fragmentation Research Articles

SUSY-Like Relation in Evolution of Gluon and Quark Jet Multiplicities

We show the new relationship [1] between the anomalous dimensions, resummed through next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic order, in the Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi (DGLAP) evolution equations for the first Mellin moments D{q,g}(\mu2) of the quark and gluon fragmentation functions, which correspond to the average hadron multiplicities in jets initiated by quarks and gluons, respectively. This relationship, which is independent of the number of quark flavors, strongly improves previous treatments by allowing for an exact solution of the evolution equations. So far, such relationships have only been known from supersymmetric QCD.

Accessing Quark Helicity through Dihadron Studies.

We present a new proposal to study the helicity-dependent dihadron fragmentation functions (DiFF), which describe the correlations of the longitudinal polarization of a fragmenting quark with the transverse momenta of the produced hadron pair. Recent experimental searches for this DiFF via azimuthal asymmetries in back-to-back hadron pair production in e^{+}e^{-} annihilation by the BELLE Collaboration did not yield a signal. Here we propose a new way to access this DiFF in e^{+}e^{-} annihilation, motivated by the recently recalculated cross section of this reaction, which explains why there was in fact no signal for the BELLE Collaboration to see. In this new approach the azimuthal asymmetry is weighted by the virtual photon's transverse momentum square multiplying sine and cosine functions of difference of azimuthal angles of relative and total momentum for each pair. The integration over the virtual photon's transverse momentum has the effect of separating the convolution between the helicity-dependent DiFFs in the quark and antiquark jets and results in a nonzero collinear expression containing Fourier moments of helicity-dependent DiFFs. A second new measurement is also proposed for two-hadron production in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering, where the asymmetry is weighted in a similar way for a single pair. This results in a collinear factorized form of the asymmetry, which includes the quark helicity parton distribution function and the same helicity-dependent DiFF, as in e^{+}e^{-} production and will allow us to check the universality of this DiFF.

GR@PPA 2.9: Radiation matching for simulating photon production processes in hadron collisions

We release an event generator package GR@PPA 2.9, for simulating the direct (single) photon and diphoton (double photon) production in hadron collisions. The included programs were used in our previous studies, in which we have explicitly shown large contributions from parton-associated processes. The programs consistently combine simulations based on matrix elements with parton-shower simulations that reproduce the multiple parton radiation and quark fragmentation to photons. The matrix elements include associated parton production processes up to two partons. We provide instructions for the installation and execution of the programs in this article. The practical performance is also presented. Program summaryProgram Title: GR@PPA 2.9Program Files doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17632/7838c8djsr.1Licensing provisions: GPLv3Programming language: Fortran; with some included libraries coded in C and C++External routines/libraries: bash and Perl for the setup, and CERNLIB, ROOT, LHAPDF 5, PYTHIA 6.4 according to the choice of usersJournal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Comm. 183 (2012) 1014–1028Does the new version supersede the previous version?: No, this version supports processes not included in previous versions.Nature of problem: It is necessary to include jet-associated processes up to two jets for realistic simulations of photon production processes in high-energy hadron collisions. Photons also need to be considered as radiation. An appropriate matching method has to be introduced for combining those processes having different jet and photon multiplicities and parton shower simulations.Solution method: The limited leading-log (LLL) subtraction method has been extended to multi-jet processes and those including photon radiation. The final-state parton shower simulation has been improved to support QED photon radiation.Reasons for the new version: New processes have been supported.Summary of revisions: This program package provides event generators for realistic simulations of single and double photon production processes in high-energy hadron collisions. Users can consistently combine different jet- and photon-multiplicity processes up to two jets and two photons.

Charmed hadrons from coalescence plus fragmentation in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC

In a coalescence plus fragmentation approach we calculate the heavy baryon/meson ratio and the p_T spectra of charmed hadrons D^{0}, D_{s} and varLambda _{c}^{+} in a wide range of transverse momentum from low p_T up to about 10 GeV and discuss their ratios from RHIC to LHC energies without any change of the coalescence parameters. We have included the contribution from decays of heavy hadron resonances and also the one due to fragmentation of heavy quarks which do not undergo the coalescence process. The coalescence process is tuned to have all charm quarks hadronizing in the p_Trightarrow 0 limit and at finite p_T charm quarks not undergoing coalescence are hadronized by independent fragmentation. The p_T dependence of the baryon/meson ratios are found to be sensitive to the masses of coalescing quarks, in particular the varLambda _{c}/D^{0} can reach values of about mathrm 1div 1.5 at p_T approx , 3 GeV, or larger, similarly to the light baryon/meson ratio like p/pi and varLambda /K, however a marked difference is a quite weak p_T dependence with respect to the light case, such that a larger value at intermediate p_T implies a relatively large value also for the integrated yields. A comparison with other coalescence model and with the prediction of thermal model is discussed.

Search for pair production of excited top quarks in the lepton + jets final state

A search is performed for the pair production of spin-3/2 excited top quarks, each decaying to a top quark and a gluon. The search uses the data collected with the CMS detector from proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 35.9 fb−1. Events are selected by requiring an isolated muon or electron, an imbalance in the transverse momentum, and at least six jets of which exactly two must be compatible with originating from the fragmentation of a bottom quark. No significant excess over the standard model predictions is found. A lower limit of 1.2TeV is set at 95% confidence level on the mass of the spin-3/2 excited top quark in an extension of the Randall–Sundrum model, assuming a 100% branching fraction of its decay into a top quark and a gluon. These are the best limits to date in a search for excited top quarks and the first at 13TeV.

Strange and heavy hadrons production from coalescence plus fragmentation in AA collisions at RHIC and LHC

In a coalescence plus fragmentation approach we study the pT spectra of charmed hadrons D0, Ds up to about 10 GeV and the Λ+c /D0 ratio from RHIC to LHC energies. In this study we have included the contribution from decays of heavy hadron resonances and also that due to fragmentation of heavy quarks that are left in the system after coalescence. The pT dependence of the heavy baryon/meson ratios is found to be sensitive to the heavy quark mass. In particular we found that the Λc/D0 is much flatter than the one for light baryon/meson ratio like p/π and Λ/K.

SUSY-like relation of the splitting functions in evolution of gluon and quark jet multiplicities

We show the new relationship [1] between the anomalous dimensions, resummed through next-to-next-to-leading-logarithmic order, in the Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi (DGLAP) evolution equations for the first Mellin moments Dq,g(μ2) of the quark and gluon fragmentation functions, which correspond to the average hadron multiplicities in jets initiated by quarks and gluons, respectively. So far, such relationships have only been known from supersymmetric (SUSY) QCD. Exploiting available next-to-nextto- next-to-leading-order (NNNLO) information on the ratio D+g (μ2)=D+q (μ2) of the dominant plus components, the fit of the world data of Dq,g(μ2) for charged hadrons measured in e+e- annihilation leads to α(5)s (MZ) = 0:1205 +0:0016 -0:0020.

Measurement of multiplicities of charged hadrons, pions and kaons in DIS at COMPASS

Precise measurements of multiplicities of charged hadrons, pions and kaons in deep inelastic scattering were performed. The data were obtained by the COMPASS Collaboration by scattering 160 GeV muons off an isoscalar 6LiD target. The results were obtained in three-dimensional bins of the Bjorken scaling variable x, the relative virtual-photon energy y, and the fraction z of the virtual-photon energy carried by the produced hadron. A leading-order pQCD analysis was performed using the pion multiplicity results to extract quark fragmentation functions into pions. The results for the sum of the z-integrated multiplicities for pions and for kaons, differ from earlier results from the HERMES experiment. The results from the sum of the z-integrated K+ and K- multiplicities at high x point to a value of the non-strange quark fragmentation function larger than obtained by the earlier DSS fit.

Fragmentation of ω and ϕ mesons in e+e− and pp collisions at NLO

A combined analysis of both [Formula: see text] (LEP, SLD) and [Formula: see text] (RHIC-PHENIX and LHC-ALICE) hadroproduction processes are done for the first time for the vector meson nonet at the next-to-leading order (NLO) using a model with broken SU(3) symmetry. The transverse momentum ([Formula: see text]) and rapidity ([Formula: see text]) dependence of the differential cross-section for [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] mesons of the [Formula: see text] data are also discussed. The input universal quark (valence and singlet) fragmentation functions at a starting scale of [Formula: see text], after evolution, have values that are consistent with the earlier analysis for [Formula: see text] at NLO. However, the universal gluon fragmentation function is now well determined from this study with significantly smaller error bars, as the [Formula: see text] hadroproduction cross-section is particularly sensitive to the gluon fragmentation since it occurs at the same order as the quark fragmentation, in contrast to the [Formula: see text] hadroproduction process. Additional parameters involved in describing the strangeness and sea suppression and octet–singlet mixing are found to be close to the earlier analysis; in addition, a new relation between the gluon and sea suppression in [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] hadroproduction has been observed.

Polarized heavy baryon production in quark-diquark model considering two different scenarios

At sufficiently large transverse momentum, the dominant production mechanism for heavy baryons is actually the fragmentation. In this work, we first study the direct fragmentation of a heavy quark into the unpolarized triply heavy baryons in the leading order of perturbative QCD. In a completely different approach, we also analyze the two-stage fragmentation of a heavy quark into a scalar diquark followed by the fragmentation of such a scalar diquark into a triply heavy baryon: quark-diquark model of baryons. The results of this model are in acceptable agreement with those obtained through a full perturbative regime. Relying on the quark-diquark model and considering two different scenarios we determine the spin-dependent fragmentation functions of polarized heavy baryons in such a way that a vector or a pseudoscalar heavy diquark is an intermediate particle between the initial heavy quark and the final state baryon.

Dissociation of large-pT prompt J/ψ produced in Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC

A collision of a light meson and a charmonium produces quarks and antiquarks first, then the charm quark fragments into a charmed hadron, and finally three or more mesons are produced. This is the mechanism that we consider and propose to understand the prompt-J/ψ nuclear modification factor in the range of J/ψ transverse momentum from 10 GeV/c to 18 GeV/c, as measured by the CMS Collaboration and the ATLAS Collaboration. Unpolarized cross sections are derived and calculated for the reactions π+charmonium→Hc+X with Hc being D+, D0, Ds+, D⁎+, or D⁎0. Numerical cross sections are parametrized and used to calculate the dissociation rate of charmonium in the interaction with pions in hadronic matter. The momentum dependence of the rate obtained is so as to lead to a decreasing charmonium nuclear modification factor with increasing transverse momentum.

Power corrections and renormalons in Transverse Momentum Distributions

We study the power corrections to Transverse Momentum Distributions (TMDs) by analyzing renormalon divergences of the perturbative series. The renormalon divergences arise independently in two constituents of TMDs: the rapidity evolution kernel and the small-b matching coefficient. The renormalon contributions (and consequently power corrections and non-perturbative corrections to the related cross sections) have a non-trivial dependence on the Bjorken variable and the transverse distance. We discuss the consistency requirements for power corrections for TMDs and suggest inputs for the TMD phenomenology in accordance with this study. Both unpolarized quark TMD parton distribution function and fragmentation function are considered.

NLO corrections to c - and b -quark fragmentation into j/ψ and γ

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Relativistic correction to gluon fragmentation function into pseudoscalar quarkonium**Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11475188, 11261130311, 11575202, 11222549), IHEP Innovation (Y4545170Y2), State Key Lab for Electronics and Particle Detectors

Inspired by the recent measurements of the ηc meson production at LHC experiments, we investigate the relativistic correction effect for the fragmentation functions of gluon/charm quark fragmenting into ηc, which constitute the crucial nonperturbative element for the ηc production at high pT. Employing three distinct methods, we calculate the next-to-leading-order (NLO) relativistic correction to g → ηc fragmentation function in the NRQCD factorization framework, as well as verifying the existing NLO result for the c → ηc fragmentation function. We also study the evolution behavior of these fragmentation functions with the aid of the DGLAP equation.

Strange quark-antiquark asymmetry of nucleon sea from Λ/Λ¯ polarization

Distinctions between quark to $\Lambda$ and $\bar\Lambda$ longitudinal spin transfers in the semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering process were observed by the E665 and COMPASS Collaborations. There are suggestions that the difference between $\Lambda$ and $\bar\Lambda$ production is related to the asymmetric strange-antistrange distribution inside the nucleon. However, previous calculations are still too small to explain the experimental data. From a realistic consideration of quark to $\Lambda$ fragmentation due to different flavors, we investigate the strange quark contribution for $\Lambda$ production and polarization. We find that the strange quark-antiquark asymmetry of the nucleon sea can be amplified into an observable quantity from the difference between $\Lambda$ and $\bar\Lambda$ polarizations after taking into account the larger probability of the $\Lambda$ produced from the $s$ quark fragmentation process compared to that from the $u$ or $d$ quark. The qualitative agreement between our calculation and the experimental data supports the existence of the intrinsic strange sea and the strange-antistrange asymmetry. Thus the polarization of $\Lambda/\bar\Lambda$ does open a new window to probe the nucleon sea properties, especially the strange content and its quark-antiquark asymmetry.

COMPASS results on proton longitudinal spin structure function g1and quark fragmentation functions

We present a few recent highlights from the COMPASS experiment at CERN, related to the nucleon spin and structure: the proton spin structure function g1 p (x) measured using 200 GeV polarized muons, together with a QCD fit of g1 world data; pion and kaon multiplicities in DIS in view of constraining quark fragmentation functions.The statistical precision on g1 p is improved by a factor of ~2 at low x. A reevaluation of the Bjorken sum rule based on COMPASS data alone confirms its validation within 9% accuracy. An NLO QCD fit to g1 world data leads to a value of the quark spin contribution to the nucleon spin ΔΣ, between 0.26 and 0.36 at Q2 = 3 (GeV/c)2 , the size of the uncertainty being driven by the unknown shape of the polarized parton distributions.The results on pion and kaon multiplicities produced in DIS of muons off an isoscalar target constitute an impressive data set of more than 400 points in π and 400 in K, covering a large kinematical domain in (x, z, Q2 ), which will be used in future NLO QCD fits to extract quark fragmentation functions into π and K. A LO fit is performed to extract the favoured and unfavoured quark fragmentation functions into pions.

First Monte Carlo analysis of fragmentation functions from single-inclusivee+e−annihilation

We perform the first iterative Monte Carlo (IMC) analysis of fragmentation functions constrained by all available data from single-inclusive ${e}^{+}{e}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ annihilation into pions and kaons. The IMC method eliminates potential bias in traditional analyses based on single fits introduced by fixing parameters not well constrained by the data and provides a statistically rigorous determination of uncertainties. Our analysis reveals specific features of fragmentation functions using the new IMC methodology and those obtained from previous analyses, especially for light quarks and for strange quark fragmentation to kaons.

Effective Field Theory approach to heavy quark fragmentation

Using an approach based on Soft Collinear Effective Theory (SCET) and Heavy Quark Effective Theory (HQET) we determine the $b$-quark fragmentation function from electron-positron annihilation data at the $Z$-boson peak at next-to-next-to leading order, with next-to-next-to leading log resummation of DGLAP logarithms, and next-to-next-to-next-to leading log resummation of endpoint logarithms. This analysis improves, by one order, the previous extraction of the $b$-quark fragmentation function. We find that while the addition of the next order in the calculation does not much shift the extracted form of the fragmentation function, it does reduce theoretical errors indicating that the expansion is converging. Using an approach based on effective field theory allows us to systematically control theoretical errors. While the fits of theory to data are generally good, the fits seem to be hinting that higher order correction from HQET may be needed to explain the $b$-quark fragmentation function at smaller values of momentum fraction.

Impacts of B-factory measurements on determination of fragmentation functions from electron–positron annihilation data

Fragmentation functions are determined for the pion and kaon by global analyses of charged-hadron production data in electron-positron annihilation. Accurate measurements were reported by the Belle and BaBar collaborations for the fragmentation functions at the center-of-mass energies of 10.52 GeV and 10.54 GeV, respectively, at the KEK and SLAC B factories, whereas other available $e^+e^-$ measurements were mostly done at higher energies, mainly at the $Z$ mass of 91.2 GeV. There is a possibility that gluon fragmentation functions, as well as quark fragmentation functions, are accurately determined by scaling violation. We report our global analysis of the fragmentation functions especially to show impacts of the B-factory measurements on the fragmentation function determination. Our results indicate that the fragmentation functions are determined more accurately not only by the scaling violation but also by high-statistical nature of the Belle and BaBar data. However, there are some tensions between the Belle and BaBar data in comparison with previous measurements. We also explain how the flavor dependence of quark fragmentation functions and the gluon function are separated by using measurements at different $Q^2$ values. In particular, the electric and weak changes are different depending on the quark type, so that a light-quark flavor separation also became possible in principle due to the precise data at both $\sqrt{s}\simeq 10.5$ GeV and 91.2 GeV.

Impact of J/ψ pair production at the LHC and predictions in nonrelativistic QCD

For $J/\psi$ pair production at hadron colliders, we present the full next-to-leading order (NLO) calculations with the color-singlet channel in nonrelativistic QCD. We find that the NLO result can reasonably well describe the LHCb measured cross section, but exhibits very different behaviors from the CMS data in the transverse momentum distribution and mass distribution of $J/\psi$ pair. Moreover, by adding contributions of gluon fragmentation and quark fragmentation, which occur at even higher order in $\alpha_s$, it is still unable to reduce the big differences. In particular, the observed flat distribution in the large invariant mass region is hard to explain. New processes or mechanisms are needed to understand the CMS data for $J/\psi$ pair production.