No Arabic abstract
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.
We report the energy dependence of mid-rapidity (anti-)deuteron production in Au+Au collisions at $sqrt{s_text{NN}} = $7.7, 11.5, 14.5, 19.6, 27, 39, 62.4, and 200 GeV, measured by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The yield of deuterons is found to be well described by the thermal model. The collision energy, centrality, and transverse momentum dependence of the coalescence parameter $B_2$ are discussed. We find that the values of $B_2$ for anti-deuterons are systematically lower than those for deuterons, indicating that the correlation volume of anti-baryons is larger than that of baryons at $sqrt{s_text{NN}}$ from 19.6 to 39 GeV. In addition, values of $B_2$ are found to vary with collision energy and show a broad minimum around $sqrt{s_text{NN}}= $20 to 40 GeV, which might imply a change of the equation of state of the medium in these collisions.
$J/psi$ production in p-p ultra-peripheral collisions through the elastic and inelastic photoproduction processes, where the virtual photons emitted from the projectile interact with the target, are studied. The comparisions between the exact treatment results and the ones of equivalent photon approximation are expressed as $Q^{2}$ (virtuality of photon), $z$ and $p_{T}$ distributions, and the total cross sections are also estimated. The method developed by Martin and Ryskin is employed to avoid double counting when the different production mechanism are considered simultaneously. The numerical results indicate that, the equivalent photon approximation can be only applied to the coherent or elastic electromagnetic process, the improper choice of $Q^{2}_{mathrm{max}}$ and $y_{mathrm{max}}$ will cause obvious errors. And the exact treatment is needed to deal accurately with the $J/psi$ photoproduction.
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.
A significant excess of J/$psi$ yield at very low transverse momentum ($p_T < 0.3$ GeV/c) was observed by the ALICE and STAR collaborations in peripheral A+A collisions, which points to evidence of coherent photoproduction of J/$psi$ in violent hadronic interactions. Theoretically, the photoproduction of J$/psi$ in hadronic collisions raises questions about how spectator and non-spectator nucleons participate in the coherent reaction. For the first time, we argue that the strong interactions in the overlapping region of incoming nuclei may disturb the coherent production, leaving room for different coupling assumptions. Furthermore, first considerations of the destructive interference between photoproduction on ions moving in opposite directions in hadronic heavy-ion collisions are included. This letter presents calculations of J$/psi$ production from coherent photon-nucleus ($gamma + A rightarrow text{J}/psi + A$) interactions in hadronic A+A collisions at RHIC and LHC energies with both nucleus and spectator coupling hypotheses. The coherent J/$psi$ yield as a function of centrality and differential distributions as a function of transverse momentum, azimuthal angle and rapidity in different centrality bins are shown and found to be significantly different for different coupling scenarios, calling for future experimental measurements.