We present a Machine Learning based approach to the cross section and asymmetries for deeply virtual Compton scattering from an unpolarized proton target using both an unpolarized and polarized electron beam. Machine learning methods are needed to study and eventually interpret the outcome of deeply virtual exclusive experiments since these reactions are characterized by a complex final state with a larger number of kinematic variables and observables, exponentially increasing the difficulty of quantitative analyses. Our deep neural network (FemtoNet) uncovers emergent features in the data and learns an accurate approximation of the cross section that outperforms standard baselines. FemtoNet reveals that the predictions in the unpolarized case systematically show a smaller relative median error than the polarized that can be ascribed to the presence of the Bethe Heitler process. It also suggests that the $t$ dependence can be more easily extrapolated than for the other variables, namely the skewness, $ξ$ and four-momentum transfer, $Q^2$. Our approach is fully scalable and will be capable of handling larger data sets as they are released from future experiments.
Recent small-t ZEUS data for exclusive rho photoproduction are in excellent agreement with exchange of the classical soft pomeron with slope alpha'=0.25 GeV^{-2}. Adding in a flavour-blind hard-pomeron contribution, whose magnitude is calculated from the data for exclusive J/psi photoproduction, gives a good fit also to the ZEUS data for rho photoproduction at larger values of t, and to phi photoproduction.
{We investigate the photoproduction process $ p γ\rightarrow Λ_{c}^{+} \overline{D^{0}}$ within the handbag approach, which we assume to be the dominant mechanism at energies well above the production threshold and in the forward scattering hemisphere.
We report on a detailed investigation of exclusive J/psi production in proton--proton and proton-antiproton collisions. Predictions for Tevatron and LHC energies are included.
In this work we investigate the exclusive photoproduction of J/psi and the radially excited psi(2S) state off nucleon in proton-proton collisions. The theoretical framework considered in the analysis is the light-cone dipole formalism and predictions are done for proton-proton collisions at the CERN-LHC energy of 7 TeV. The theoretical uncertainties are investigated and comparison is done to the recent LHCb Collaboration data for the exclusive charmonium production.
Positivity constraints have proved to be important for spin observables of exclusive reactions involving polarized initial and final particles. Attention is focused in this note on the photoproduction of pseudoscalar mesons from spin 1/2 baryons, more specifically gamma+ N -> K+ Lambda, gamma+ N -> K Sigma, for which new experimental data are becoming available.
Exclusive photoproduction of heavy quarkonia at HERA is analyzed in the framework of the Regge-eikonal approach together with the nonrelativistic bound state formalism. Total and differential cross-sections for the process $γ+p\to (Q\bar{Q})_{1S}+p$ are calculated. The model predicts cross-sections of Exclusive Double Diffractive Events (EDDE) at TeVatron and LHC.
The exclusive $Υ$ photoproduction in proton-proton and proton - nucleus collisions at LHC energies is investigated using the color dipole formalism and considering different models for the $Υ$ wave function and forward dipole - target scattering amplitude. Our goal is to update the color dipole predictions and estimate the theoretical uncertainty present in these predictions. We present predictions for the kinematical ranges probed by the ALICE, CMS and LHCb Collaborations.
The amplitude for photoproduction gamma p -> Υp is calculated in a pQCD k_\perp-factorization approach. The total cross section for diffractive Υ's is compared to recent HERA data. The amplitude is used to predict the cross section for exclusive ppbar \to ppbar Υ(1S,2S) process in hadronic reactions at Tevatron energies. We also included absorption effects.
The cross section for exclusive $Υ$ ultraperipheral photoproduction at present and future colliders is determined using the low $x$ gluon PDF extracted from an analysis of exclusive $J/ψ$ measurements performed at HERA and the LHC. Predictions are given at next-to-leading order in collinear factorisation over a wide $γp$ centre-of-mass energy range, calculated assuming the non-relativistic approximation for the $Υ$ wave function, and with skewing corrections incorporated.
Protons and antiprotons at collider energies are a source of high energy Weizsaecker--Williams photons. This opens up a possibility to study at the LHC exclusive photoproduction of heavy vector mesons at energies much larger than possible at the HERA accelerator. We present selected results of our detailed studies of various distributions for the production of heavy quarkonia (e.g. rapidity, transverse momenta, azimuthal angles). We give predictions for LHC energies. Our calculations are based on modelling the photoproduction amplitudes in a k_\perp-factorisation approach which is checked agai…
We present predictions for differential cross sections for the reaction $γp \to Φp$ and give an outlook to which extent our calculations may be generalized to the photoproduction of $J/Ψ$ mesons. Our results are obtained within perturbative QCD treating the proton as a quark-diquark system.
In this contribution we report on the investigations of the exclusive production of J/psi and psi(2S) states in proton-proton and nucleus-nucleus reactions at the LHC using the theoretical framework of light-cone dipole formalism.
A model based on a dipole Pomeron framework for vector meson exclusive photoproduction by real and virtual photons shows very good agreement with the experimental data. The model does not violate unitarity constrains and describes in a universal manner all the available data for $ρ$, $ω$, $ϕ$, $J/ψ$ and $Υ$ vector meson photoproduction in the region of energies $1.7\le W \le 250 GeV$ and photon virtualities $0 \le Q^2 \le 35 GeV^2$.
In this work we investigate the inclusive and exclusive photoproduction of dileptons, which is relevant for the physics programme to be studied in the proposed electron-proton collider, the LHeC. In the inclusive case, the process is sensitive to the parton distribution functions in the photon whereas the exclusive channel is connected to the small-$x$ QCD dynamics. For the latter, we investigate the role played by saturation physics at a very high energy scenario. The estimates for production cross sections and the number of events are presented.
We study tensor meson photoproduction outside of the resonance region, at beam energies of few GeVs. We build a model based on Regge theory that includes the leading vector and axial exchanges. We consider two determinations of the unknown helicity couplings, and fit to the recent a2 photoproduction data from CLAS. Both choices give a similar description of the a2 cross section, but result in different predictions for the parity asymmetries and the f2 photoproduction cross section. We conclude that new measurements of f2 photoproduction in the forward region are needed to pin down the correct …
We present predictions for the exclusive photoproduction of $Φ$-meson on Proton at large tranfer, where we use a quark-diquark structure model for the proton. Extrapolation from our results to lower tranfers is comparable in magnitude with available data in that range. This may support the diquark model in its ability to provide, for that process, an appropriate link between diffractive physics at low transfer and the standard semi-perturbative approach of hard exclusive processes at very large tranfer, where the proton recovers its three-quark structure.
The exclusive photoproduction of lepton pairs on nucleon and nucleus target is investigated within the high energy color dipole approach, where the main physical quantity is the dipole-target elastic scattering amplitude that captures the main features of the dependence on atomic number A, on energy and on momentum transfer t. These calculations are input in predictions for electromagnetic interactions in pp and AA collisions to be measured at the LHC.
In this paper we present a comprehensive analysis of the exclusive heavy quark photoproduction in $pp$, $pPb$ and $PbPb$ collisions at LHC and FCC energies using the color dipole formalism and taking into account of nonlinear corrections to the QCD dynamics. We estimate the rapidity distributions and cross sections for the charm and bottom production considering three phenomenological models for the dipole-proton scattering amplitude that are able to describe the $ep$ HERA data. Our results indicate that a future experimental analysis of this process is feasible, which will allow us to improve…
Exclusive photoproduction of a $γ\,ρ$ pair in the kinematics where the pair has a large invariant mass and the final nucleon has a small transverse momentum is described in the collinear factorization framework. The scattering amplitude is calculated at leading order in $α_s$ and the differential cross sections for the process where the $ρ-$meson is either longitudinally or transversely polarized are estimated in the kinematics of the JLab 12-GeV experiments.
We discuss the potential to constrain the small-$x$ PDFs using the exclusive production of heavy vector mesons. The calculation of $J/ψ$ and $Υ$ photoproduction at NLO in collinear factorisation is described. The different behaviour of the NLO corrections for $J/ψ$ and $Υ$ is highlighted and we outline what might be expected from the inclusion of these processes in a PDF fit.
The exclusive $ρ$, $ω$ and $J/Ψ$ photoproduction in fixed - target collisions at the LHC is investigated. We estimate, for the first time, the rapidity and transverse momentum distributions of the vector meson photoproduction in $p He$, $p Ar$, $Pb He$ and $Pb Ar$ fixed - target collisions at the LHC using the STARlight Monte Carlo and present our results for the total cross sections. Predictions for the kinematical range probed by the LHCb detector are also presented. Our results indicate that the experimental analysis of this process in fixed - target collisions at the LHC is feasible. Such …
The forward photoproduction amplitude for gamma p to Upsilon p is calculated in a pQCD k_t-factorization approach with an unintegrated gluon distribution constrained by inclusive deep-inelastic structure functions. The total cross section for diffractive Upsilons is compared with a recent HERA data. We also discuss the 2S/1S ratio in diffractive Upsilon-production. The amplitude is used to predict the cross section for exclusive Upsilon production in hadronic reactions. Differential distributions for the exclusive p pbar to p Upsilon pbar process are calculated for Tevatron energies. We also s…
We propose and study the photoproduction of a $γ\,ρ$ pair with a large invariant mass and a small transverse momentum of the final nucleon, as a way to access generalized parton distributions. In the kinematics of JLab 12-GeV, we demonstrate the feasibility of this measurement.
The exclusive vector meson production cross section is one of the most promising observables to probe the high energy regime of the QCD dynamics. In particular, the squared momentum transfer ($t$) distributions are an important source of information about the spatial distribution of the gluons in the hadron and about fluctuations of the color fields. In this paper we complement previous studies on exclusive vector meson photoproduction in hadronic collisions presenting a comprehensive analysis of the $t$ - spectrum measured in exclusive $ρ$, $ϕ$ and $J/Ψ$ photoproduction in $pp$ and $PbPb$ col…
We calculate the nuclear cross section for vector meson exclusive photoproduction within the QCD color dipole picture and in the Regge approach. For the former approach, we have considered the phenomenological saturation model, whereas for the latter we use a model based on the dipole Pomeron framework. Theoretical estimates for scattering on both light and heavy nuclei are given for a large range on energy.
We calculate the leading-order perturbative contribution to $γp \to M_{V} p$, with $M_V$ being a $Φ$ or $J/Ψ$ meson, in the kinematic region of large energy and scattering angle.
In exclusive $J/ψ$ production by polarized photons incident on polarized protons, a finite polarization asymmetry arises because of $c\bar c$ Fermi-motion and binding-energy effects. The asymmetry depends on the polarized nonforward gluon distribution of the proton and thus gives information on gluon polarization in the proton. The analyzing power, however, is rather small.
We discuss exclusive $J/ψ$ photoproduction, initially in conventional collinear factorisation at NLO and then subsequently in a refined approach with a programme of low $x$ resummation and implementation of a crucial low $Q_0$ subtraction included. We compare and contrast predictions in both frameworks and remark about the possibility to constrain and ultimately determine the low $x$ and low scale gluon PDF, emphasising the significance of this for future global PDF analyses.
In this letter we complement previous studies on exclusive vector meson photoproduction in hadronic collisions presenting a comprehensive analysis of the $t$ - spectrum measured in exclusive $ρ$ and $J/Ψ$ photoproduction in $pA$ collisions at the LHC. We compute the differential cross sections considering two phenomenological models for the gluon saturation effects and present predictions for $pPb$ and $pCa$ collisions. Moreover, we compare our predictions with the recent preliminary CMS data for the exclusive $ρ$ photoproduction. We demonstrate that the gluon saturation models are able to des…
We study the photoproduction of exclusive $2π^+2π^-$ mesons in ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. Predictions in photon-nucleus interactions are calculated for various resonances at central and forward rapidities. The recent H1 preliminary data are utilized to improve the description of the poorly known $γp \to 4π^\pm p$ process. We present the comparisons of our results to the available STAR data at RHIC, and made predictions for LHC energies.
We investigate the exclusive photoproduction of a heavy timelike photon which decays into a lepton pair, gamma p -> l+ l- p. This can be seen as the analog of deeply virtual Compton scattering, and we argue that the two processes are complementary for studying generalized parton distributions in the nucleon. In an unpolarized experiment the angular distribution of the leptons readily provides access to the real part of the Compton amplitude. We estimate the possible size of this effect in kinematics where the Compton process should be dominated by quark exchange.
In an exclusive measurement of the reaction $γd \to K^+ K^- p n$, a narrow peak that can be attributed to an exotic baryon with strangeness $S=+1$ is seen in the $K^+n$ invariant mass spectrum. The peak is at $1.542\pm 0.005$ GeV/c$^2$ with a measured width of 0.021 GeV/c$^2$ FWHM, which is largely determined by experimental mass resolution. The statistical significance of the peak is $5.2 \pm 0.6 σ$. The mass and width of the observed peak are consistent with recent reports of a narrow $S=+1$ baryon by other experimental groups.
Exclusive photoproduction of dileptons, gamma p ->l+ l- p, will be measured in ultraperipheral collisions at LHC. The mechanism where the lepton pair comes from a heavy timelike photon radiated from a quark interferes with the pure QED process gamma gamma ->l+ l- As an analog of deeply virtual Compton scattering, this timelike Compton scattering is a way to study generalized parton distributions in the nucleon or the nucleus. High energy kinematics will enable to focus on gluon distributions. Nuclear effects may be scrutinized in heavy ion collisions.
The amplitude for $γp \to ϕp$ is calculated in a pQCD $k_{T}$ - factorization approach. The total cross section for this process is compared with HERA data. Total cross section, as a function of photon-proton energy and photon virtuality, is calculated. We also discuss the ratio of $σ_{L}$ / $σ_{T}$ and the dependence on the mass of the strange quark. The amplitude for $γp \to ϕp$ is used to predict the cross section for exclusive photoproduction of $ϕ$ meson in proton-proton collisions. Absorption effects are included. The results for RHIC, Tevatron and LHC energies are presented.
Exclusive photoproduction of a $γ\,π^\pm$ pair in the kinematics where the pair has a large invariant mass and the final nucleon has a small transverse momentum is described in the collinear factorization framework. The scattering amplitude is calculated at leading order in $α_s$ and the differential cross sections for the process are estimated in the kinematics of the JLab~12-GeV experiments. The order of magnitude of the predicted cross-sections seems sufficient for a dedicated experiment to be performed. The process turns out to be very sensitive to the axial generalized parton distribution…
Exclusive vector meson photoproduction associated with a leading baryon ($B = n, Δ^+, Δ^0$) in $pp$ and $pA$ collisions at RHIC and LHC energies is investigated using the color dipole formalism and taking into account nonlinear effects in the QCD dynamics. In particular, we compute the cross sections for $ρ$, $ϕ$ and $J/Ψ$ production together with a $Δ$ and compare the predictions with those obtained for a leading neutron. Our results show that the $V + Δ$ cross section is almost 30 % of the $V + n$ one. Our results also show that a future experimental analysis of these processes is, in princi…
In this letter we update our predictions for exclusive $J/Ψ$ and $Υ$ photoproduction in proton-proton and nucleus - nucleus collisions at the Run 2 LHC energies obtained with the color dipole formalism and considering the impact parameter Color Glass Condensate model (bCGC) for the forward dipole - target scattering amplitude. A comparison with the LHCb data on rapidity distributions and photon - hadron cross sections is presented. Our results demonstrate that the current data can be quite well described by the bCGC model, which takes into account nonlinear effects in the QCD dynamics and repr…
The photonuclear production of vector mesons in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions is investigated within the collinear approach using different parameterizations for the nuclear gluon distribution. The integrated cross section and the rapidity distribution for the $AA \to V AA$ ($V = J/Ψ, Υ$) process are computed for energies of RHIC and LHC. A comparison with the recent PHENIX data on coherent production of $J/Ψ$ mesons is also presented. We demonstrate that the study of the exclusive quarkonium photoproduction can be used to constrain the nuclear effects in the gluon distribution.
We argue that coherent production of hard dijets by linearly polarized real photons can provide direct evidence for chirality violation in hard processes, the first measurement of the magnetic susceptibility of the quark condensate and the photon distribution amplitude. It can also serve as a sensitive probe of the generalized gluon parton distribution. Numerical calculations are presented for HERA kinematics.
In this paper we present a comprehensive analysis of exclusive vector meson photoproduction in $pp$, $pPb$ and $PbPb$ collisions at Run 2 LHC energies using the Color Dipole formalism. The rapidity distributions and total cross sections for the $ρ$, $ϕ$, $J/Ψ$, $Ψ(2S)$ and $Υ$ production are estimated considering the more recent phenomenological models for the dipole - proton scattering amplitude, which are based on the Color Glass Condensate formalism and are able to describe the inclusive and exclusive $ep$ HERA data. Moreover, we also discuss the impact of the modelling of the vector meson …
The elastic differential and integrated total cross section for the exclusive $ρ^0$ photoproduction in electron-proton ($ep$) collisions are evaluated taking into account nonperturbative Pomeron exchange approach. By using three different models based on Regge phenomenology the results are compared to recent measurements by H1 Collaboration in $ep$ collisions and by the CMS collaboration from ultraperipheral proton-lead collisions. The analysis is expanded by calculating the coherent nuclear cross section, $σ(γA\rightarrow ρ^0 A)$, which is applied to $ρ^0$ production in ultraperipheral lead-l…
We derive the forward photoproduction amplitude for the diffractive $γp \to l^+ l^- p$ reaction in the momentum space. within the formalism of $k_\perp$- factorization. Predictions for the $γp \to l^+ l^- p$ reaction are given using unintegrated gluon distribution from the literature. We calculate the total cross section as a function of photon-proton center of mass energy and the invariant mass distribution of the lepton pair. We also discuss whether the production of timelike virtual photons can be approximated by continuing to the spacelike domain $ q^2 < 0$. The present calculation provide…
We provide predictions for the rapidity distributions of exclusive photoproduced J/psi and Upsilon mesons, and Z^0 bosons, at the Tevatron and LHC. We use the equivalent-photon approximation with the photon-proton cross sections given by the impact parameter dependent dipole saturation model, which has already been shown to give a good description of a wide variety of HERA data. We derive the quark-antiquark light-cone wave functions of timelike neutral electroweak bosons. An essential difference is pointed out between the amplitude for timelike heavy boson photoproduction and the amplitude fo…
We show how deviations from the dimensional scaling laws for exclusive processes may be related to a breakdown in the locality of quark-hadron duality, i.e. the "restricted locality". For exclusive reactions like meson photo- and electroproduction above the resonance region, we explore the effects arising from such a local duality breaking and propose that it can be a possible source for oscillations about the smooth quark counting rule predicted by pQCD in the 90-degree differential cross sections.
We summarize what is known about the transverse spatial distribution of gluons in the nucleon and its x-dependence from exclusive J/psi photo/electroproduction in e-p fixed-target and collider experiments (HERA H1 and ZEUS). This information can be used to predict the impact parameter dependence of the cross section for certain hard QCD processes (dijet production) in pbar-p and p-p collisions at the Tevatron and LHC.
In this paper we study the high energy exclusive photoproduction of heavy quarkonia pairs in the leading order of the strong coupling constant $α_{s}$. In the suggested mechanism the quarkonia pairs are produced with opposite charge parities, and have predominantly oppositely directed transverse momenta. Using the Color Glass Condensate approach, we estimated numerically the production cross-sections in the kinematics of the forthcoming electron-proton colliders, as well as proton-ion colliders in ultraperipheral collisions. We found that the cross-sections are within the reach of planned expe…
In this work we investigate the coherent photoproduction of psi(1S), psi(2S) and Upsilon (1S) states in the proton-nucleus collisions in the LHC energies. Predictions for the rapidity distributions are presented using the color dipole formalism and including saturation effects that are expected to be relevant at high energies. Calculations are done at the energy 5.02 TeV and also for the next LHC run at 8.8 TeV in proton-lead mode. Discussion is performed on the main theoretical uncertainties associated to the calculations.
We study exclusive vector meson photoproduction, $γp \to V + p$ with $V=J/ψ$ or $Υ$, at NLO in collinear factorisation, in order to examine what may be learnt about the gluon distribution at very low $x$. We examine the factorisation scale dependence of the predictions. We argue that, using knowledge of the NLO corrections, terms enhanced by a large $\ln(1/ξ)$ can be reabsorbed in the LO part by a choice of the factorisation scale. (In these exclusive processes $ξ$ takes the role of Bjorken-$x$.) Then, the scale dependence coming from the remaining NLO contributions has no $\ln(1/ξ)$ enhanceme…
We investigate the theoretical uncertainty on the predictions for the photoproduction of $ρ$ and $J/Ψ$ states in nucleus-nucleus collisions at Run 2 LHC energies using the Color Dipole formalism. The results for rapidity distributions and total cross sections are presented. Moreover, we compare directly the theoretical results to the recent preliminary data from ALICE collaboration on $ρ$ production in $PbPb$ collisions at central rapidity.
Over the past years the LHC experiments have reported experimental evidences for processes associated to photon-photon and photon-hadron interactions, showing their potential to investigate the production of low- and high-mass systems in exclusive events. In the particular case of the photoproduction of vector mesons, the experimental study of this final state is expected to shed light on the description of the QCD dynamics at small values of the Bjorken-$x$ variable. In this paper we extend previous studies for the exclusive $J/Ψ$ and $Υ$ photoproduction in $pp$ collisions based on the nonlin…
The reactions gamma p -> K+ Lambda and gamma p -> K* Lambda are analyzed within perturbative QCD, allowing for diquarks as quasi-elementary constituents of baryons. The diquark-model parameters and the quark-diquark distribution amplitudes of proton and Lambda are taken from previous investigations of electromagnetic baryon form factors and Compton-scattering off protons. Unpolarized differential cross sections and polarization observables are computed for different choices of the K and K* distribution amplitudes. The asymptotic form of the K distribution amplitude (proportional to x1 x2) is f…
We make predictions for the cross section of coherent $J/ψ$ photoproduction in Pb-Pb and O-O ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) at the LHC as a function of the $J/ψ$ rapidity $y$ in the framework of collinear factorization and next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD. We quantify the strong scale dependence and significant uncertainties due to nuclear PDFs and show that our approach provides a reasonable description of the LHC data on coherent $J/ψ$ photoproduction in Pb-Pb UPCs. We demonstrate that these uncertainties are reduced by approximately a factor of 10 in the scaled ratio of the O…
Exclusive vector meson production and deeply virtual Compton scattering are ideally suited reactions for studying the structure of the proton and the transition from soft to hard processes. The main experimental data obtained at HERA are summarised and presented in the light of QCD approaches.
