Feynman scaling violation on baryon spectra in pp collisions at LHC and cosmic ray energies

A significant asymmetry in baryon/antibaryon yields in the central region of high energy collisions is observed when the initial state has nonzero baryon charge. This asymmetry is connected with the possibility of baryon charge diffusion in rapidity space. Such a diffusion should decrease the baryon charge in the fragmentation region and translate into the corresponding decrease of the multiplicity of leading baryons. As a result, a new mechanism for Feynman scaling violation in the fragmentation region is obtained. Another numerically more significant reason for the Feynman scaling violation comes from the fact that the average number of cut Pomerons increases with initial energy. We present the quantitative predictions of the Quark-Gluon String Model for the Feynman scaling violation at LHC energies and at even higher energies that can be important for cosmic ray physics.     

Gluon saturation and baryon stopping in the SPS, RHIC, and LHC energy regions

A new geometrical scaling method with a gluon saturation rapidity limit is proposed to study the gluon saturation feature of the central rapidity region of relativistic nuclear collisions. The net-baryon number is essentially transported by valence quarks that probe the saturation regime in the target by multiple scattering. We take advantage of the gluon saturation model with geometric scaling of the rapidity limit to investigate net baryon distributions, nuclear stopping power and gluon saturation features in the SPS and RHIC energy regions. Predictions for net-baryon rapidity distributions, mean rapidity loss and gluon saturation feature in central Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC are made in this paper.     

Inclusive production at LHC energies

We consider the first LHC data for pp collisions in the framework of Regge theory. The integral cross sections and inclusive densities of secondaries are determined by the Pomeron exchange, and we present the corresponding predictions for them. The first measurements of inclusive densities in the midrapidity region are in agreement with these predictions. The contribution of the baryon-number transfer due to String Junction diffusion in the rapidity space is at the origin of the differences in the inclusive spectra of particle and antiparticle in the central region, and this effect could be significant at LHC energies. We discuss the first data of ALICE and LHCb collaborations on the baryon/antibaryon asymmetry at LHC.     

Rapidity distributions of net protons from AGS to LHC energy regions

Taking the conservation of baryon number into account in a non-uniform flow model, the rapidity distribution of the net protons at the LHC is predicted. The energy dependence of the rapidity distribution, baryon stopping and collective flow from BNL/AGS to CERN/LHC are systematically investigated.     

Novel mechanisms of baryon number flow over large rapidity gap

It is shown that slow valence quark in the wave function of high energy proton can fragment into a baryon if the fast diquark-spectator is destroyed, i.e. is turned from the antitriplet to the sextet colour state. We estimated the cross section of the baryon number flow to the central rapidity region using the perturbative QCD. It depends on the rapidity gap Δy as exp (-Δy/2) and nicely agrees with the data at ISR energies, There exists also an intriguing possibility to transfer baryon number by means of gluonic exchanges only. This contribution does not depend on rapidity at all and becomes sizable in TeV energy region. We propose also new mechanisms for baryonantibaryon production from vacuum, transfer of polarization over large rapidity intervals, and nuclear stopping power.     

Rapidity dependence of thermal dileptons resulting from hadronizing quark-gluon matter with finite baryon charge

The influence of a non-vanishing baryon charge on the rapidity distribution of dileptons produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions is studied. We employ a frozen motion model with scaling invariant expansion of the hadronizing quark-gluon plasma as well as a realistic rapidity distribution of secondary particles (i.e., pions and baryons) expected for RHIC energies. We demonstrate a sizeable suppression of the thermal dilepton yield at large rapidities due to the finite baryon density. This affects the most favorable rapidity window for using dileptons for the diagnostic of the quark-gluon plasma and the early temperature distribution of the hot reaction zone. To discriminate the thermal dileptons from Drell-Yan background we propose to utilize the dilepton yield scaled suitably by the pion multiplicity as function of rapidity.     

Baryon deceleration and partonic plasma creation by strong chromofields in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

Strong chromofields generated at early stages of ultrarelativistic nuclear collisions may explain not only creation of the quark-gluon plasma but also collective deceleration of net baryons. This is demonstrated by solving classical equations of motion for baryonic slabs under the action of a time-dependent chromofield. We have studied sensitivity of the slab trajectories and their final rapidities to the initial strength and decay time of the chromofield, as well as to the back reaction of the produced plasma. By proper choice of the initial chromofield energy density we can reproduce significant baryon stopping, an average rapidity loss of about two units, observed for Au + Au collisions at RHIC. Using a Bjorken-like hydrodynamical model with the particle production source, we also study the evolution of partonic plasma produced as the result of the chromofield decay. Due to the delayed formation and expansion of plasma its maximum energy density is significantly lower than the initial energy density of the chromofield. It is shown that the fluctuations of the chromofield due to the stochastic distribution of color charges help to populate the midrapidity region in the net-baryon distribution. To fit the midrapidity data we need the chromofields with initial energy densities in the range of 30 to 60 GeV/fm³. Predictions of baryon stopping for Pb + Pb collisions at LHC energies are made.     

Midrapidity production of secondaries in pp collisions at RHIC and LHC energies in the quark–gluon string model

We consider the phenomenological implications of the assumption that baryons are systems of three quarks connected through a gluon string junction. The transfer of baryon number in rapidity space due to the string junction propagation is considered in detail. At high energies this process leads to a significant effect on the net baryon production in hN collisions at midrapidities. The numerical results for midrapidity inclusive densities of different secondaries in the framework of the quark–gluon string model are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. One universal value, λ≃0.25, for the strangeness suppression parameter correctly describes the yield ratios of Λ/p, Ξ/Λ, and Ω/Ξ. The predictions for pp collisions at LHC energies are also presented. PACS 25.75.Dw     

Minijet transverse-energy production in the next-to-leading order in hadron and nuclear collisions

The transverse-energy flow generated by minijets in hadron and nuclear collisions into a given rapidity window in the central region is calculated in the next-to-leading-order (NLO) in QCD at RHIC and LHC energies. The NLO transverse-energy production in pp collision cross sections is larger than that in the leading-order (LO) ones by the factors of and at RHIC and LHC energies, respectively. These results were then used to calculate the transverse-energy spectrum in nuclear collisions in a Glauber geometrical model. We show that accounting for NLO corrections in the elementary pp collisions leads to a substantial broadening of the distribution for the nuclear ones, while its form remains practically unchanged. Received: 11 May 1999 / Published online: 22 October 1999     

Signals of new physics in global event properties in pp collisions in the TeV energy domain: rapidity intervals

The study of possible new physics signals in global event properties in pp collisions in the TeV energy domain is extended from full phase-space to rapidity intervals experimentally accessible at LHC. The elbow structure in the total multiplicity distribution predicted in full phase-space is clearly present also in restricted rapidity intervals, leading to very strong charged particle correlations. It is also found that energy densities comparable to those reached in heavy ion collisions at RHIC could be attained in pp collisions at LHC.Received: 3 March 2004, Published online: 23 July 2004     

Lattice QCD predictions for shapes of event distributions along the freezeout curve in heavy-ion collisions

We present lattice QCD results along the freezeout curve of heavy-ion collisions. The variance, skew and kurtosis of the event distribution of baryon number are studied through Padé resummations. We predict smooth behaviour of three ratios of these quantities at current RHIC and future LHC energies. Deviations from this at lower energies signal the presence of a nearby critical point.     

Proton fluctuations

We survey the utility of net baryon number fluctuations in a rapidity interval as a probe of baryon production in nuclear collisions.     

Universal scaling of kinetic freeze-out parameters across different collision systems at LHC energies

In this study, we perform Tsallis Blast-Wave analysis on the transverse momentum spectra of identified hadrons produced in a wide range of collision systems at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) including pp, pPb, XeXe, and PbPb collisions. The kinetic freeze-out properties varying with event multiplicity are investigated across these systems. We find that the extracted kinetic freeze-out temperature, radial flow velocity, and non-extensive parameter exhibit a universal scaling behavior for these systems with very different geometric sizes, especially when the independent baryon Tsallis non-extensive parameter is considered. This universality may indicate the existence of a unified partonic evolution stage in different collision systems at the LHC energies.     

Net-Baryon and Net-Kaon Rapidity Distributions in Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

In this paper, the gluon distribution is extracted from the KLR-AdS/CFT saturation model and used to investigate net-baryon and net-kaon rapidity distributions in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. With the same parameters of the saturation model fitting to HERA data and an χ² analysis of the overall constant C, the theoretical results are in good agreement with RHIC data in Au+Au collisions at √s=0.2 TeV. Then, we present the predictive results for net-baryon rapidity distributions in central Pb+Pb collisions at LHC energies of √s=2.76, 3.94, and 5.52 TeV, and give the corresponding values of d N/d y for net-baryon at y=0.     

Fading out of J/ψ color transparency in high energy heavy ion peripheral collisions

We provide predictions for the J/ψ coherent production in the peripheral heavy ion collisions at LHC and RHIC using the leading twist model of nuclear shadowing based on the QCD factorization theorem for diffraction and the HERA hard diffraction data. We demonstrate that for LHC kinematics this model leads to a bump-shape distribution in rapidity which is suppressed overall as compared to the expectations of the color transparency regime by a factor 6. This is a significantly larger suppression than that expected within the impact parameter eikonal model. Thus we show that the interaction of spatially small wave package for which the total cross section of interaction with nucleons is small is still strongly shadowed by nuclear medium in high energy processes.     

Cold Nuclear Matter Effects on Isolated Prompt Photon and Isolated Prompt Photon+Jet Productions in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

We investigate the cold nuclear matter(CNM) effects on isolated prompt photon and isolated prompt photon associated jet productions in nuclear collisions at the NLO accuracy by using the EPS09 NLO nuclear parton distribution functions and their error sets.Nuclear modification factors of isolated prompt photon and isolated prompt photon+jet productions due to CNM effects in p+A and A+A reactions at the RHIC and the LHC are provided with varying rapidity and transverse momentum of the final state photon.It is shown that the CNM effects on isolated prompt photon and photon+jet are modest,which give a small enhancement at low pT region and a more obvious suppression at large pT at central rapidity.At forward rapidity a pronounced suppression of γ as well as γ+jet is always observed.     

Some remarks on the particle multiplicities

Recent ALICE data for the multiplicity distributions in the central rapidity bins at LHC energies are compared with the results from two default versions of the PYTHIA 8 generator. We find that, contrary to the earlier versions of PYTHIA, the model overestimates the increase of average multiplicity with energy. Tuning two of the model parameters one obtains reasonable agreement with data. The dependence of the normalized moments of the distribution on the rapidity bin width and on energy is also qualitatively correct.     

Baryon recoil and the fragmentation regions in ultra-relativistic nuclear collisions

The maximum baryon and energy densities reached in the fragmentation regions of nuclear collisions are estimated with a new hydrodynamical model. Unlike previous models where recoil is included as a source term for the baryon current, in our model the baryon current is strictly conserved. The parameters of the model are furthermore adjusted to take into account the large baryon rapidity shifts observed recently in p + A → p + X. The implications for the production of high baryon density quark-gluon plasmas are discussed.     

How to probe high gluon densities in pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

We present a model for hadron production in the proton fragmentation region in pp collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider which accounts for the first time for effects of very strong small x gluon fields. Average transverse momenta acquired by the valence quarks exceed 1 GeV/c for central collisions and result in the suppression of leading baryon production and an additional energy flow to smaller rapidities. A strong dependence on the impact parameter will allow one to investigate the propagation of leading partons through gluon fields of a strength comparable to the ones encountered in heavy ion collisions at the LHC and in cosmic-ray-air interactions at highest energies.     

Using dileptons to probe the color glass condensate

The rapidity and transverse momentum dependence of the nuclear modification ratio for dilepton production at RHIC and LHC is presented, calculated in the color glass condensate (CGC) framework. The transverse momentum ratio is compared for two distinct dilepton mass values and a suppression of the Cronin peak is verified even for large mass. The nuclear modification ratio suppression in the dilepton rapidity spectra, as obtained experimentally for hadrons at RHIC, is verified for LHC energies at large transverse momentum, although not present at RHIC energies. The ratio between LHC and RHIC nuclear modification ratios is evaluated in the CGC, showing the large saturation effects at LHC compared with the RHIC results. These results consolidate the dilepton as a most suitable observable to investigate the QCD high density approaches.