Observation of coherent $\phi$(1020) meson photoproduction in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}$ = 5.36 TeV

The CMS collaboration Chekhovsky, Vladimir ; Hayrapetyan, Aram ; Makarenko, Vladimir ; et al.
CMS-HIN-24-009, 2025.
Inspire Record 2908607 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.156183

The first observation of coherent $\phi$(1020) meson photoproduction off heavy nuclei is presented using ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.36 TeV. The data were collected by the CMS experiment and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.68 $\mu$b$^{-1}$. The $\phi$(1020) meson signals are reconstructed via the K$^+$K$^-$ decay channel. The production cross section is presented as a function of the $\phi$(1020) meson rapidity in the range 0.3 $\lt$$\lvert y\rvert$$\lt$ 1.0, probing gluons that carry a fraction of the nucleon momentum ($x$) around $10^{-4}$. The observed cross section exhibits little dependence on rapidity and is significantly suppressed, by a factor of ${\sim}$5, compared to a baseline model that treats a nucleus as a collection of free nucleons. Theoretical models that incorporate either nuclear shadowing or gluon saturation predict suppression of the $\phi$(1020) meson cross section with only a small dependence on rapidity, but the magnitude of the predicted suppression varies greatly. Models considering only nuclear shadowing effects result in the best agreement with the experimental data. This study establishes a powerful new tool for exploring nuclear effects and nuclear gluonic structure in the small-$x$ regime at a unique energy scale bridging the perturbative and nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics domains.

1 data table

The differential coherent $\phi$ photoproduction cross section and the nuclear suppression factor as a function of rapidity.


Small-$x$ evolution of gluon fields from incoherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions

The CMS collaboration Chekhovsky, Vladimir ; Hayrapetyan, Aram ; Makarenko, Vladimir ; et al.
CMS-HIN-23-009, 2025.
Inspire Record 2899343 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.156185

Incoherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction in heavy ion ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs), in which the photon interacts with localized, fluctuating gluonic hotspots rather than the entire nucleus, provides a unique probe of those fluctuations. This study presents the first measurement of the dependence of this photoproduction yield on the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy ($W_\gamma^\mathrm{N}$), using PbPb UPCs at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. The data corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1.52 nb$^{-1}$, recorded by the CMS experiment. The measurement covers a wide $W_\gamma^\mathrm{N}$ range of $\approx$40-400 GeV, probing gluons carrying a fraction of nucleon momentum $x$ in the range between 5.9 $\times$ 10$^{-3}$ and 6.5 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$. The measured incoherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction cross section is suppressed relative to theoretical predictions without nuclear effects. However, the ratio of incoherent to coherent photoproduction remains constant across the probed $W_\gamma^\mathrm{N}$ and $x$ range. Together, these results pose significant challenges to current theoretical models which include gluon saturation or nuclear shadowing effects.

8 data tables

The differential incoherent $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ photoproduction cross section as a function of $|y|$, in different neutron multiplicity classes.

The differential incoherent $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ photoproduction cross section as a function of $y$, in different neutron multiplicity classes.

The incoherent $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ photoproduction cross section as a function of photon-nuclear center-of-mass energy per nucleon $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}^{\mathrm{Pb}}$ or Bjorken $x$, measured in PbPb ultra-peripheral collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}^{\mathrm{Pb}}$ values used correspond to the center of each rapidity range. The theoretical uncertainties is due to the uncertainties in the photon flux.

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Evaluation of the E2/M1 ratio in the $N\to \Delta(1232)$ transition from the $ \vec{\gamma} \vec{p} \to p \pi^0 $ reaction

The A2 Collaboration at MAMI collaboration Mornacchi, E. ; Pedroni, P. ; Afzal, F. ; et al.
Phys.Rev.C 109 (2024) 055201, 2024.
Inspire Record 2736510 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.154709

A new data set for the helicity-dependent differential cross section of the single-meson photoproduction reaction $\gamma p \to p \pi^{0}$ was obtained for the photon energy interval 150-400 MeV. The experiment was performed at the A2 tagged photon facility of the Mainz Microtron MAMI using a circularly polarized photon beam and a longitudinally polarized proton target. The reaction products were detected with the large acceptance Crystal Ball/TAPS calorimeter covering 97% of the full solid angle. These new results, obtained with a fine energy and polar angle binning, greatly increase both the existing quantity and quality of the data available for this observable. A moment analysis, based on a finite expansion in Legendre polynomials, was applied to these data by using a bootstrap-based fitting method to correctly account for their systematic uncertainties. From the resulting decomposition of the differential cross sections, the $E2/M1$ ratio for the $N\to \Delta(1232)$ transition was determined to be $[-2.38 \pm 0.16{\hbox{ (stat.+sys.)}} \pm 0.10 {\hbox{ (model)}}] \%$. Combining this value with previous results also allowed us to evaluate the most precise available estimate of the $E2/M1$ ratio to be used for all further reference and model comparisons.

19 data tables

Total heliicity-dependent cross section $\Delta \sigma$ as a function of photon beam energy.

Exitation as function as function of photon beam energyat cms $\Theta_\pi^0= 5 deg$

Exitation as function as function of photon beam energy at cms $\Theta_\pi^0= 15 deg$

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Version 2
Probing small Bjorken-$x$ nuclear gluonic structure via coherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_\mathrm{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV

The CMS collaboration Tumasyan, Armen ; Adam, Wolfgang ; Andrejkovic, Janik Walter ; et al.
Phys.Rev.Lett. 131 (2023) 262301, 2023.
Inspire Record 2648536 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.138867

Quasireal photons exchanged in relativistic heavy ion interactions are powerful probes of the gluonic structure of nuclei. The coherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction cross section in ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions is measured as a function of photon-nucleus center-of-mass energies per nucleon (W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$), over a wide range of 40 $\lt$ W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$$\lt$ 400 GeV. Results are obtained using data at the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV collected by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.52 nb$^{-1}$. The cross section is observed to rise rapidly at low W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$, and plateau above W$^\text{Pb}_{\gamma\text{N}}$$\approx$ 40 GeV, up to 400 GeV, a new regime of small Bjorken-$x$ ($\approx$ 6 $\times$ 10$^{-5}$) gluons being probed in a heavy nucleus. The observed energy dependence is not predicted by current quantum chromodynamic models.

16 data tables

The differential coherent $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ photoproduction cross section as a function of rapidity, in different neutron multiplicity classes: 0n0n, 0nXn, XnXn , and AnAn.

The differential coherent $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ photoproduction cross section as a function of rapidity, in different neutron multiplicity classes: 0n0n, 0nXn, XnXn , and AnAn.

The total coherent $\mathrm{J}/\psi$ photoproduction cross section as a function of photon-nuclear center-of-mass energy per nucleon $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}^{\mathrm{Pb}}$, measured in PbPb ultra-peripheral collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV. The $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}^{\mathrm{Pb}}$ values used correspond to the center of each rapidity range. The theoretical uncertainties is due to the uncertainties in the photon flux.

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Measurement of the charge asymmetry in top-quark pair production in association with a photon with the ATLAS experiment

The ATLAS collaboration Aad, Georges ; Abbott, Braden Keim ; Abbott, Dale ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 843 (2023) 137848, 2023.
Inspire Record 2616326 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.140834

A measurement of the charge asymmetry in top-quark pair ($t\bar{t}$) production in association with a photon is presented. The measurement is performed in the single-lepton $t\bar{t}$ decay channel using proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN at a centre-of-mass-energy of 13 TeV during the years 2015-2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb$^{-1}$. The charge asymmetry is obtained from the distribution of the difference of the absolute rapidities of the top quark and antiquark using a profile likelihood unfolding approach. It is measured to be $A_\text{C}=-0.003 \pm 0.029$ in agreement with the Standard Model expectation.

4 data tables

The measured asymmetry of top quark pairs in $t\bar{t}\gamma$ production in a fiducial region at particle level.

Normalised differential cross section as a function of $|y(t)| - |y(\bar{t})|$. The observed data is compared with the SM expectation using aMC@NLO+Pythia8 at NLO QCD precision. The value of the charge asymmetry corresponds to the difference between the two bins. Underflow and overflow events are included in corresponding bins of the distribution.

Definition of the fiducial phase space at particle level. where, $\gamma$: photon $\ell$: lepton j: jet

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Measurement of the helicity dependence for single $\pi^{0}$ photoproduction from the deuteron

The A2 collaboration Cividini, F. ; Dieterle, M. ; Abt, S. ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.A 58 (2022) 113, 2022.
Inspire Record 2040546 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.132014

The helicity-dependent single $\pi^{0}$ photoproduction cross section on the deuteron and the angular dependence of the double polarisation observable $E$ for the quasi-free single $\pi^0$ production off the proton and the neutron have been measured for the first time from the threshold region up to the photon energy 1.4 GeV. The experiment was performed at the tagged photon facility of the MAMI accelerator and used a circularly polarised photon beam and longitudinally polarised deuteron target. The reaction products were detected using the large acceptance Crystal Ball/TAPS calorimeter, which covered 97% of the full solid angle. Comparing the cross section from the deuteron with the sum of free nucleon cross sections provides a quantitative estimate of the effects of the nuclear medium on pion production. In contrast, comparison of $E$ helicity asymmetry data from quasi-free protons off deuterium with data from a free proton target indicates that nuclear effects do not significantly affect this observable. As a consequence, it is deduced that the helicity asymmetry $E$ on a free neutron can be reliably extracted from measurements on a deuteron in quasi-free kinematics.

158 data tables

Inclusive polarized total cross section as a function of photon beam energy.

Helicity-dependent differential cross section on deuteron at Egamma= 161. MeV

Helicity-dependent differential cross section on deuteron at Egamma= 178. MeV

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Observation of a structure in the M$_{p\eta}$ invariant mass distribution near 1700 MeV/$c^2$ in the $\mathbf{\gamma p \rightarrow p \pi^0 \eta} $ reaction

The CBELSA/TAPS collaboration Metag, V. ; Nanova, M. ; Hartmann, J. ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.A 57 (2021) 325, 2021.
Inspire Record 1987678 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.115572

The reaction $\gamma p \rightarrow p \pi^0 \eta$ has been studied with the CBELSA/TAPS detector at the electron stretcher accelerator ELSA in Bonn for incident photon energies from threshold up to 3.1 GeV. This paper has been motivated by the recently claimed observation of a narrow structure in the M$_{N\eta}$ invariant mass distribution at a mass of 1678 MeV/$c^2$. The existence of this structure cannot be confirmed in the present work. Instead, for E$_{\gamma}$ = 1400 - 1500 MeV and the cut M$_{p\pi^0} \le 1190 $ MeV/$c^2$ a statistically significant structure in the M$_{p\eta}$ invariant mass distribution near 1700 MeV/$c^2$ is observed with a width of $\Gamma\approx 35$ MeV/$c^2$ while the mass resolution is $\sigma_{res}$ = 5 MeV/$c^2$. Increasing the incident photon energy from 1420 to 1540 MeV this structure shifts in mass from $\approx$ 1700MeV/c$^2$ to $\approx$ 1725 MeV/$c^2$; the width increases to about 50 MeV/$c^2$ and decreases thereafter. The cross section associated with this structure reaches a maximum of $\approx$ 100 nb around E$_{\gamma} \approx$ 1490 MeV (W $\approx $ 1920 MeV), which coincides with the $p a_0$ threshold. Three scenarios are discussed which might be the origin of this structure in the M$_{p\eta}$ invariant mass distribution. The most likely interpretation is that it is due to a triangular singularity in the $\gamma p \rightarrow p a_0 \rightarrow p \pi^0 \eta$ reaction

32 data tables

Differential cross section for $\pi^0$ in the $\gamma p$ for the incident photon energy range of $E_\gamma$ = 1400-1500 MeV.

Differential cross section for $\eta$ in the $\gamma p$ for the incident photon energy range of $E_\gamma$ = 1400-1500 MeV.

Differential cross section for $p$ in the $\gamma p$ for the incident photon energy range of $E_\gamma$ = 1400-1500 MeV.

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Single $\pi^0$ Production Off Neutrons Bound in Deuteron with Linearly Polarized Photons

The A2 at MAMI collaboration Mullen, C. ; Gardner, S. ; Glazier, D.I. ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.A 57 (2021) 205, 2021.
Inspire Record 1851649 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.127968

The quasifree $\overrightarrow{\gamma} d\to\pi^0n(p)$ photon beam asymmetry, $\Sigma$, has been measured at photon energies, $E_\gamma$, from 390 to 610 MeV, corresponding to center of mass energy from 1.271 to 1.424 GeV, for the first time. The data were collected in the A2 hall of the MAMI electron beam facility with the Crystal Ball and TAPS calorimeters covering pion center-of-mass angles from 49 to 148$^\circ$. In this kinematic region, polarization observables are sensitive to contributions from the $\Delta (1232)$ and $N(1440)$ resonances. The extracted values of $\Sigma$ have been compared to predictions based on partial-wave analyses (PWAs) of the existing pion photoproduction database. Our comparison includes the SAID, MAID, and Bonn-Gatchina analyses; while a revised SAID fit, including the new $\Sigma$ measurements, has also been performed. In addition, isospin symmetry is examined as a way to predict $\pi^0n$ photoproduction observables, based on fits to published data in the channels $\pi^0p$, $\pi^+n$, and $\pi^-p$.

12 data tables

Photon beam asymmetry Sigma at W= 1.2711 GeV

Photon beam asymmetry Sigma at W= 1.2858 GeV

Photon beam asymmetry Sigma at W= 1.3003 GeV

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First measurement of the ${\mathbf{|\textit t|}}$-dependence of coherent $\mathbf{\rm{J/\psi}}$ photonuclear production

The ALICE collaboration Acharya, Shreyasi ; Adamova, Dagmar ; Adler, Alexander ; et al.
Phys.Lett.B 817 (2021) 136280, 2021.
Inspire Record 1840600 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.104459

The first measurement of the cross section for coherent J/$\psi$ photoproduction as a function of $|t|$, the square of the momentum transferred between the incoming and outgoing target nucleus, is presented. The data were measured with the ALICE detector in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV with the J/$\psi$ produced in the central rapidity region $|y|<0.8$, which corresponds to the small Bjorken-$x$ range $(0.3-1.4) \times 10^{-3}$. The measured $|t|$-dependence is not described by computations based only on the Pb nuclear form factor, while the photonuclear cross section is better reproduced by models including shadowing according to the leading-twist approximation, or gluon-saturation effects from the impact-parameter dependent Balitsky-Kovchegov equation. These new results are therefore a valid tool to constrain the relevant model parameters and to investigate the transverse gluonic structure at very low Bjorken-$x$.

2 data tables

t-dependence of coherent J/psi photonuclear production cross section in Pb-Pb UPC.

pT**2-dependence of coherent J/psi photoproduction cross section in Pb-Pb UPC.


Coherent $J/\psi$ and $\psi'$ photoproduction at midrapidity in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}~=~5.02$ TeV

The ALICE collaboration Acharya, Shreyasi ; Adamova, Dagmar ; Adler, Alexander ; et al.
Eur.Phys.J.C 81 (2021) 712, 2021.
Inspire Record 1840601 DOI 10.17182/hepdata.110176

The coherent photoproduction of $\rm{J/\psi}$ and $\rm{\psi'}$ mesons was measured in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}~=~5.02$ TeV with the ALICE detector. Charmonia are detected in the central rapidity region for events where the hadronic interactions are strongly suppressed. The $\rm{J/\psi}$ is reconstructed using the dilepton ($l^{+} l^{-}$) and proton-antiproton decay channels, while for the $\rm{\psi'}$, the dilepton and the $l^{+} l^{-} \pi^{+} \pi^{-}$ decay channels are studied. The analysis is based on an event sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 233 ${\mu b}^{-1}$. The results are compared with theoretical models for coherent $\rm{J/\psi}$ and $\rm{\psi'}$ photoproduction. The coherent cross section is found to be in a good agreement with models incorporating moderate nuclear gluon shadowing of about 0.65 at a Bjorken-$x$ of around $6\times 10^{-4}$, such as the EPS09 parametrization, however none of the models is able to fully describe the rapidity dependence of the coherent $\rm{J/\psi}$ cross section including ALICE measurements at forward rapidity. The ratio of $\rm{\psi'}$ to $\rm{J/\psi}$ coherent photoproduction cross sections was also measured and found to be consistent with the one for photoproduction off protons.

4 data tables

Measured differential cross section of coherent J/Psi photoproduction in Pb–Pb UPCs in |y|<0.8. The points show the measurements for different decay channels.

Measured differential cross section of coherent Psi(2S) photoproduction in Pb–Pb UPCs in |y|<0.8. The points show the measurements for different decay channels.

Measured rapidity differential cross section of coherent J/Psi photoproduction in Pb–Pb UPCs events.

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