arXiv · 2606.05786
Associated $Z$ + $J/\psi$ production as a probe of multiparton interactions in the forward region
Abstract
This letter reports a study of associated $Z$ boson and prompt $J/\psi$ production in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV with the LHCb detector in the forward rapidity region, using a data sample taken during 2016 to 2018 corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.1 \mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The measured fiducial cross-section is $5.5 \pm 1.5$ pb, significantly exceeding the single-parton scattering expectation of $0.10 \pm 0.08$ pb, indicating that multiparton interactions dominate this process in the explored phase space. Interpreted within the standard double-parton scattering framework, the data yields an effective cross-section $\sigma_{\mathrm{eff}} = 16.6 \pm 4.7$ mb. This provides a direct experimental constraint on the transverse spatial structure of the proton in a kinematic regime characterized simultaneously by small Bjorken-$x$ and an electroweak hard scale set by the $Z$ boson mass.
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LHCb collaboration, R. Aaij, A. S. W. Abdelmotteleb, C. Abellan Beteta, F. Abudinén, T. Ackernley, A. A. Adefisoye, B. Adeva, M. Adinolfi, P. Adlarson, C. Agapopoulou, C. A. Aidala, Z. Ajaltouni, S. Akar, K. Akiba, M. Akthar, P. Albicocco, J. Albrecht, R. Aleksiejunas, F. Alessio, P. Alvarez Cartelle, R. Amalric, S. Amato, J. L. Amey, Y. Amhis, L. An, L. Anderlini, M. Andersson, P. Andreola, M. Andreotti, S. Andres Estrada, A. Anelli, D. Ao, C. Arata, F. Archilli, Z. Areg, M. Argenton, S. Arguedas Cuendis, L. Arnone, A. Artamonov, M. Artuso, E. Aslanides, R. Ataíde Da Silva, M. Atzeni, B. Audurier, J. A. Authier, D. Bacher, I. Bachiller Perea, S. Bachmann, M. Bachmayer, J. J. Back, P. Baladron Rodriguez, V. Balagura, A. Balboni, W. Baldini, Z. Baldwin, L. Balzani, H. Bao, J. Baptista de Souza Leite, C. Barbero Pretel, M. Barbetti, I. R. Barbosa, R. J. Barlow, M. Barnyakov, S. Barsuk, W. Barter, J. Bartz, S. Bashir, B. Batsukh, P. B. Battista, A. Bavarchee, A. Bay, A. Beck, M. Becker, F. Bedeschi, I. B. Bediaga, N. A. Behling, S. Belin, A. Bellavista, K. Belous, I. Belov, I. Belyaev, G. Benane, G. Bencivenni, E. Ben-Haim, A. Berezhnoy, R. Bernet, S. Bernet Andres, A. Bertolin, F. Betti, J. Bex, O. Bezshyyko, S. Bhattacharya, M. S. Bieker, N. V. Biesuz, A. Biolchini, M. Birch, F. C. R. Bishop, A. Bitadze, A. Bizzeti. 2026-06-04. Associated $Z$ + $J/\psi$ production as a probe of multiparton interactions in the forward region. https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.05786
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