No Arabic abstract
Understanding the role of Quantum Chromodynamics in generating nuclear forces is important for uncovering the mechanism of short-ranged nuclear interactions and their manifestation in short range correlations (SRC). The future Electron-Ion-Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US will provide an unprecedented opportunity to systematically investigate the underlying physics of SRC for energies and kinematic regions that are otherwise impossible to reach. We study SRCs in electron-deuteron scattering events using the Monte Carlo event generator BeAGLE. Specifically, we investigate the sensitivity of observables to high internal nucleon momentum in incoherent diffractive $J/psi$ vector meson production. In a plane wave impulse approximation, the initial state deuteron wavefunction can be accessed directly from the four-momentum of the spectator nucleon. We use realistic physics simulations and far-forward detector simulations of the EIC to fully reveal the physics potential of this exclusive process. In particular, we provide the luminosity and detector requirements necessary to study SRCs in the deuteron at an EIC.
Understanding various fundamental properties of nucleons and nuclei are among the most important scientific goals at the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). With the unprecedented opportunity provided by the next-generation machine, the EIC might provide definitive answers to many standing puzzles and open questions in modern nuclear physics. Here we investigate one of the golden measurements proposed at the EIC, which is to obtain the spatial gluon density distribution within a lead ($Pb$) nucleus. The proposed experimental process is the exclusive $J/psi$ vector-meson production off the $Pb$ nucleus - $e+Pbrightarrow e+J/psi+Pb$. The Fourier transformation of the momentum transfer $|t|$ distribution of the coherent diffraction is the transverse gluon spatial distribution. In order to measure it, the experiment has to overcome an overwhelmingly large background arising from the incoherent diffractive production, where the nucleus $Pb$ mostly breaks up into fragments of particles in the far-forward direction close to the hadron-going beam rapidity. In this paper, we systematically study the rejection of incoherent $J/psi$ production by vetoing products from these nuclear breakups - protons, neutrons, and photons, which is based on the BeAGLE event generator and the most up-to-date EIC Far-forward Interaction Region design. The achieved vetoing efficiency, the ratio between the number of vetoed events and total incoherent events, ranges from about 80% - 99% depending on $|t|$, which can resolve at least the first minimum of the coherent diffractive distribution based on the Sar$it{t}$re model. Experimental and accelerator machine challenges as well as potential improvements are discussed.
Understanding gluon density distributions and how they are modified in nuclei are among the most important goals in nuclear physics. In recent years, diffractive vector meson production measured in ultra-peripheral collisions (UPCs) at heavy-ion colliders has provided a new tool for probing the gluon density. In this Letter, we report the first measurement of $J/psi$ photoproduction off the deuteron in UPCs at the center-of-mass energy $sqrt{s_{_{rm NN}}}=200~rm GeV$ in d$+$Au collisions. The differential cross section as a function of momentum transfer $-t$ is measured. In addition, data with a neutron tagged in the deuteron-going Zero-Degree Calorimeter is investigated for the first time, which is found to be consistent with the expectation of incoherent diffractive scattering at low momentum transfer. Theoretical predictions based on the Color Glass Condensate saturation model and the gluon shadowing model are compared with the data quantitatively. A better agreement with the saturation model has been observed. With the current measurement, the results are found to be directly sensitive to the gluon density distribution of the deuteron and the deuteron breakup, which provides insights into the nuclear gluonic structure.
Gluon density and its distributions inside nuclei and the parton modification of bounded nucleons inside a nucleus, are some of the main standing problems in nuclear and particle physics. In recent years, ultra-peripheral collisions (UPC) of heavy ions have provided a new way of probing the gluon density, which is based on coherent diffractive vector-meson productions, e.g., $J/psi$ meson. For heavy ions, e.g., Pb, the gluon density is found to be significantly suppressed through the UPC $J/psi$ measurement, suggesting a strong gluon shadowing effect in heavy nuclei. In this analysis, we aim to look at a unique set of data taken by the STAR experiment, where $J/psi$ mesons are photoproduced off the deuteron target with no other particle produced, except for the deuteron or its breakup products. The Zero Degree Calorimeter response with respect to the deuteron dissociation by detecting a beam-rapidity neutron is also investigated and provides additional information about the underlying physics process. The cross section of $J/psi$ photoproduction in the photon-deuteron system is measured at the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy $Wsim25~rm{GeV}$, as well as the momentum transfer $t$ dependence cross section, $dsigma/dt$. Data suggests a wider gluon density distribution than the Hulthen charge density distribution in deuteron.
The J/psi is considered to be among the most important probes for the deconfined quark gluon plasma (QGP) created by relativistic heavy ion collisions. While the J/psi is thought to dissociate in the QGP by Debye color screening, there are competing effects from cold nuclear matter (CNM), feed-downs from excited charmonia (chi_c and psi) and bottom quarks, and regeneration from uncorrelated charm quarks. Measurements that can provide information to disentangle these effects are presented in this paper.
We report on the first measurement of the F2 structure function of the neutron from semi-inclusive scattering of electrons from deuterium, with low-momentum protons detected in the backward hemisphere. Restricting the momentum of the spectator protons to < 100 MeV and their angles to < 100 degrees relative to the momentum transfer allows an interpretation of the process in terms of scattering from nearly on-shell neutrons. The F2n data collected cover the nucleon resonance and deep-inelastic regions over a wide range of Bjorken x for 0.65 < Q2 < 4.52 GeV2, with uncertainties from nuclear corrections estimated to be less than a few percent. These measurements provide the first determination of the neutron to proton structure function ratio F2n/F2p at 0.2 < x < 0.8 with little uncertainty due to nuclear effects.