Analysis of $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ Charmonium Production in Ultraperipheral Lead-Lead and Proton-Lead Collisions at LHC Energies

Abstract

The two gluon exchange model serves as a key framework for describing the photoproduction of heavy vector mesons, and the photoproduction cross sections derived from it provide essential input for studies of Ultra-Peripheral Collisions (UPCs). Building on the model successful description of $J/\psi$ and $\psi(2S)$ photoproduction in previous work, we use the STARlight program to systematically investigate charmonium UPCs in PbPb and $p$Pb collisions at LHC energies. To reduce discrepancies between theoretical predictions and experimental data for rapidity and transverse momentum distributions in PbPb collisions, a phenomenological suppression factor is introduced to correct the theoretical results. We find that, in the TeV energy range, the corrected predictions agree well with experimental data within uncertainties and successfully reproduce the characteristic double-peak structure in rapidity distributions. In contrast, no significant suppression is observed in $p$Pb UPCs, which reflects the asymmetric photon fluxes and the dominant contribution from the photoproduction interaction branch. The transverse momentum distributions from STARlight simulations also match the diffractive pattern of coherent production seen experimentally, although the overall yield remains slightly overpredicted. This work further validates the applicability of photoproduction cross sections from the two gluon exchange model for charmonium UPC studies, and offers valuable phenomenological guidance for future experimental design and data analysis in UPC measurements of charmonium production.