In this paper, we report the measurement of the energy flow, the cross section and the average inelasticity of forward neutrons (+ antineutrons) produced in $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV proton-proton collisions. These quantities are obtained from the inclusive differential production cross section, measured using the LHCf Arm2 detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The measurements are performed in six pseudorapidity regions: three of them ($\eta > 10.75$, $8.99 < \eta < 9.21$ and $8.80 < \eta < 8.99$), albeit with smaller acceptance and larger uncertainties, were already published in a previous work, whereas the remaining three ($10.06 < \eta < 10.75$, $9.65 < \eta < 10.06$ and $8.65 < \eta < 8.80$) are presented here for the first time. The analysis was carried out using a data set acquired in June 2015 with a corresponding integrated luminosity of $\mathrm{0.194~nb^{-1}}$. Comparing the experimental measurements with the expectations of several hadronic interaction models used to simulate cosmic ray air showers, none of these generators resulted to have a satisfactory agreement in all the phase space selected for the analysis. The inclusive differential production cross section for $\eta > 10.75$ is not reproduced by any model, whereas the results still indicate a significant but less serious deviation at lower pseudorapidities. Depending on the pseudorapidity region, the generators showing the best overall agreement with data are either SIBYLL 2.3 or EPOS-LHC. Furthermore, apart from the most forward region, the derived energy flow and cross section distributions are best reproduced by EPOS-LHC. Finally, even if none of the models describe the elasticity distribution in a satisfactory way, the extracted average inelasticity is consistent with the QGSJET II-04 value, while most of the other generators give values that lie just outside the experimental uncertainties.
Neutron (and antineutron) inclusive differential production cross section in $\eta > 10.75$
Neutron (and antineutron) inclusive differential production cross section in $10.06 < \eta < 10.75$
Neutron (and antineutron) inclusive differential production cross section in $9.65 < \eta < 10.06$
We present a comprehensive analysis of inclusive W(\to e\nu)+n-jet (n\geq 1,2,3,4) production in proton-antiproton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV at the Tevatron collider using a 3.7 fb^{-1} dataset collected by the D0 detector. Differential cross sections are presented as a function of the jet rapidities (y), lepton transverse momentum (p_T) and pseudorapidity (\eta), the scalar sum of the transverse energies of the W boson and all jets (H_T), leading dijet p_T and invariant mass, dijet rapidity separations for a variety of jet pairings for p_T-ordered and angular-ordered jets, dijet opening angle, dijet azimuthal angular separations for p_T-ordered and angular-ordered jets, and W boson transverse momentum. The mean number of jets in an event containing a W boson is measured as a function of H_T, and as a function of the rapidity separations between the two highest-p_T jets and between the most widely separated jets in rapidity. Finally, the probability for third-jet emission in events containing a W boson and at least two jets is studied by measuring the fraction of events in the inclusive W+2-jet sample that contain a third jet over a p_T threshold. The analysis employs a regularized singular value decomposition technique to accurately correct for detector effects and for the presence of backgrounds. The corrected data are compared to particle level next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions, predictions from all-order resummation approaches, and a variety of leading-order and matrix-element plus parton-shower event generators. Regions of the phase space where there is agreement or disagreement with the data are discussed for the different models tested.
Differential production cross-section, normalized to the measured inclusive W boson cross-section, as a function of leading jet rapidity for events with one or more jets produced in association with a W boson. First uncertainty is statistical, second uncertainty is systematic.
Differential production cross-section, normalized to the measured inclusive W boson cross-section, as a function of second jet rapidity for events with two or more jets produced in association with a W boson. First uncertainty is statistical, second uncertainty is systematic.
Differential production cross-section, normalized to the measured inclusive W boson cross-section, as a function of third jet rapidity for events with three or more jets produced in association with a W boson. First uncertainty is statistical, second uncertainty is systematic.
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