The production of Upsilon(1S), Upsilon(2S) and Upsilon(3S) mesons decaying into the dimuon final state is studied with the LHCb detector using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.3 pb^{-1} collected in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt{s}=2.76 TeV. The differential production cross-sections times dimuon branching fractions are measured as functions of the Upsilon transverse momentum and rapidity, over the ranges p_T<15 GeV/c and 2.0<y<4.5. The total cross-sections in this kinematic region, assuming unpolarised production, are measured to be sigma(pp -> Upsilon(1S) X) x B(Upsilon(1S) -> mu+mu-) = 1.111 +/- 0.043 +/- 0.044 nb, sigma(pp -> Upsilon(2S) X) x B(Upsilon(2S) -> mu+mu-) = 0.264 +/- 0.023 +/- 0.011 nb, sigma(pp -> Upsilon(3S) X) x B(Upsilon(3S) -> mu+mu-) = 0.159 +/- 0.020 +/- 0.007 nb, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.
Charged particle multiplicities are studied in proton-proton collisions in the forward region at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s} = 7\;$TeV with data collected by the LHCb detector. The forward spectrometer allows access to a kinematic range of $2.0<\eta<4.8$ in pseudorapidity, momenta down to $2\;$GeV/$c$ and transverse momenta down to $0.2\;$GeV/$c$. The measurements are performed using minimum-bias events with at least one charged particle in the kinematic acceptance. The results are presented as functions of pseudorapidity and transverse momentum and are compared to predictions from several Monte Carlo event generators.
The production of $\chi_b$ mesons in proton-proton collisions is studied using a data sample collected by the LHCb detector, at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s}=7$ and $8$ TeV and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$. The $\chi_b$ mesons are identified through their decays to $\Upsilon(1S)\gamma$ and $\Upsilon(2S)\gamma$ using photons that converted to $e^+e^-$ pairs in the detector. The relative prompt production rate of $\chi_{b1}(1P)$ and $\chi_{b2}(1P)$ mesons is measured as a function of the $\Upsilon(1S)$ transverse momentum in the $\chi_b$ rapidity range $2.0<y<4.5$. A precise measurement of the $\chi_b(3P)$ mass is also performed. Assuming a mass splitting between the $\chi_{b1}(3P)$ and the $\chi_{b2}(3P)$ states of 10.5 MeV/$c^2$, the measured mass of the $\chi_{b1}(3P)$ meson is $ m(\chi_{b1}(3P))= 10515.7^{+2.2}_{-3.9}(stat) ^{+1.5}_{-2.1}(syst) MeV/c^2.$
The production of the $\eta_c (1S)$ state in proton-proton collisions is probed via its decay to the $p \bar{p}$ final state with the LHCb detector, in the rapidity range $2.0 < y < 4.5$ and in the meson transverse-momentum range $p_T > 6.5$ GeV/c. The cross-section for prompt production of $\eta_c (1S)$ mesons relative to the prompt $J/\psi$ cross-section is measured, for the first time, to be $\sigma_{\eta_c (1S)}/\sigma_{J/\psi} = 1.74 \pm 0.29 \pm 0.28 \pm 0.18 _{B}$ at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 0.7 fb$^{-1}$, and $\sigma_{\eta_c (1S)}/\sigma_{J/\psi} = 1.60 \pm 0.29 \pm 0.25 \pm 0.17 _{B}$ at $\sqrt{s} = 8$ TeV using 2.0 fb$^{-1}$. The uncertainties quoted are, in order, statistical, systematic, and that on the ratio of branching fractions of the $\eta_c (1S)$ and $J/\psi$ decays to the $p \bar{p}$ final state. In addition, the inclusive branching fraction of $b$-hadron decays into $\eta_c (1S)$ mesons is measured, for the first time, to be $B ( b \rightarrow \eta_c X ) = (4.88 \pm 0.64 \pm 0.29 \pm 0.67 _{B}) \times 10^{-3}$, where the third uncertainty includes also the uncertainty on the $J/\psi$ inclusive branching fraction from $b$-hadron decays. The difference between the $J/\psi$ and $\eta_c (1S)$ meson masses is determined to be $114.7 \pm 1.5 \pm 0.1$ MeV/c$^2$.
A study of $\chi_{b}$ meson production at LHCb is performed on proton-proton collision data, corresponding to 3.0fb$^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity collected at centre-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s}=7$ and 8TeV. The fraction of $\Upsilon(nS)$ mesons originating from $\chi_{b}$ decays is measured as a function of the $\Upsilon$ transverse momentum in the rapidity range $2.0 < y^{\Upsilon} < 4.5$. The radiative transition of the $\chi_{b}(3P)$ meson to $\Upsilon(3S)$ is observed for the first time. The $\chi_{b1}(3P)$ mass is determined to be $$m(\chi_{b1}(3P)) = 10\,511.3 \pm 1.7 \pm 2.5 MeV/c^2,$$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic.
The cross-section for inelastic proton-proton collisions, with at least one prompt long-lived charged particle of transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}>0.2$ GeV/$c$ in the pseudorapidity range $2.0<\eta<4.5$, is measured by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV. The cross-section in this kinematic range is determined to be $\sigma_{\rm inel}^{\rm acc} = 55.0 \pm 2.4$ mb within the spectrometer acceptance with an experimental uncertainty that is dominated by systematic contributions. Extrapolation to the full phase space, using PYTHIA 6, yields $\sigma_{\rm inel} = 66.9 \pm 2.9 \pm 4.4$ mb, where the first uncertainty is experimental and the second is due to the extrapolation.
A measurement of the $Z(\rightarrow\mu^+\mu^-)$+jet production cross-section in $pp$ collisions at a centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s} = 7$ TeV is presented. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of $1.0\,\text{fb}^{-1}$ recorded by the LHCb experiment. Results are shown with two jet transverse momentum thresholds, 10 and 20 GeV, for both the overall cross-section within the fiducial volume, and for six differential cross-section measurements. The fiducial volume requires that both the jet and the muons from the Z boson decay are produced in the forward direction ($2.0<\eta<4.5$). The results show good agreement with theoretical predictions at the second-order expansion in the coupling of the strong interaction.
This article presents differential measurements of the asymmetry between $\Lambda_b^0$ and $\overline{\Lambda}_b^0$ baryon production rates in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s}=7$ and $8\,\textrm{TeV}$ collected with the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $3\,\textrm{fb}^{-1}$. The $\Lambda_b^0$ baryons are reconstructed through the inclusive semileptonic decay $\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow\Lambda_c^+\mu^-\overline{\nu}_{\mu}X$. The production asymmetry is measured both in intervals of rapidity in the range $2.15<y<4.10$ and transverse momentum in $2<p_T<27\,\textrm{GeV}/c$. The results are found to be incompatible with symmetric production with a significance of 5.8 standard deviations for both $\sqrt{s}=7$ and $8\,\textrm{TeV}$ data, assuming no $C\!P$ violation in the decay. There is evidence for a trend as a function of rapidity with a significance of 4 standard deviations. Comparisons to predictions from hadronisation models in PYTHIA and heavy-quark recombination are provided. This result constitutes the first observation of a particle-antiparticle asymmetry in $b$-hadron production at LHC energies.
The differential cross-section of prompt inclusive production of long-lived charged particles in proton-proton collisions is measured using a data sample recorded by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of ${\sqrt{s} = 13\,\mathrm{TeV}}$. The data sample, collected with an unbiased trigger, corresponds to an integrated luminosity of ${5.4\,\mathrm{nb}^{-1}}$. The differential cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum and pseudorapidity in the ranges ${p_\mathrm{T} \in [0.08, 10)\,\mathrm{GeV}\,c^{-1}}$ and ${\eta \in [2.0, 4.8)}$ and is determined separately for positively and negatively charged particles. The results are compared with predictions from various hadronic-interaction models.
The production of prompt charged particles in proton-lead collisions and in proton-proton collisions at the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy ${\sqrt{s_{\scriptscriptstyle\mathrm{NN}}}=5\,\mathrm{TeV}}$ is studied at LHCb as a function of pseudorapidity ($\eta$) and transverse momentum ($p_{\mathrm{T}}$) with respect to the proton beam direction. The nuclear modification factor for charged particles is determined as a function of $\eta$ between ${-4.8<\eta<-2.5}$ (backward region) and ${2.0<\eta<4.8}$ (forward region), and $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ between ${0.2<p_{\mathrm{T}}<8.0\,\mathrm{GeV}/c}$. The results show a suppression of charged particle production in proton-lead collisions relative to proton-proton collisions in the forward region and an enhancement in the backward region for $p_{\mathrm{T}}$ larger than $1.5\,\mathrm{GeV}/c$. This measurement constrains nuclear PDFs and saturation models at previously unexplored values of the parton momentum fraction down to $10^{-6}$.
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