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Ronan McNulty

Publications and source records attributed to Ronan McNulty.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

Vector meson photoproduction on the nucleus and the extraction of the nuclear suppression factor using asymmetric beams

The cross-section for photoproduction of a vector meson on a nucleus is usually determined in nucleus-nucleus collisions, which introduces a two-fold ambiguity as to which nucleus emitted the photon. This can be resolved in asymmetric collisions of protons and nuclei, where the ratio of photoproduction cross-sections on the proton and nucleus directly measures the nuclear suppression factor with minimal model dependence. The feasibilty of using existing and future proton-lead collisions at the LHC is evaluated.

hep-ph

Inclusive quarkonium photoproduction selection and the effect of pileup at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive quarkonium photoproduction provide strong constraints on the quarkonium production mechanism; however, this process has not yet been measured at the LHC. We summarise our previously developed selection strategy for isolating inclusive quarkonium photoproduction in pPb collisions at the LHC, which offer an optimal balance of photon flux, luminosity, and low pileup. We further examine the applicability of our selection criteria in different collision systems. While our method can be readily extended to PbPb collisions, pp collisions require additional care due to the significantly higher pileup. We discuss how pileup affects the selection criteria, highlighting that it substantially degrades forward-detector-based selections and reduces the efficiency of rapidity-gap requirements.

hep-ph

Inclusive photoproduction of vector quarkonium in ultra-peripheral collisions at the LHC

We explore the possibility of using ultra-peripheral proton-lead collisions at the LHC to study inclusive vector-quarkonium photoproduction, that occurs when a quasi-real photon emitted by a fully stripped lead ion breaks a proton to produce a vector quarkonium. Owing to the extremely large energies of the colliding hadrons circulating in the LHC, the range of accessible photon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies, W_gamma+p, largely exceeds what has been and will be studied at lepton-hadron colliders, HERA and the EIC. We perform a tune to HERA photoproduction data, use this tune to predict the yields of photoproduced J/psi, and estimate the corresponding transverse-momentum reach at LHC experiments. We also model the hadroproduction background and demonstrate that inclusive photoproduction can be isolated at the LHC from such background by imposing constraints on the hadronic activity in the lead-going direction at mid, forward, or far-forward rapidities depending on the capability of the detector under consideration. We find that the resulting cross sections are large enough to be measured by ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb. We estimate the background-to-signal ratio after isolation to be of the order of 0.001 and 0.1 in the low and large transverse-momentum regions, respectively. In addition, we propose and assess the Jacquet-Blondel method to reconstruct the photon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy and the fractional energy of the quarkonium with respect to the photon.

hep-ph

Exploring Baryon Resonances with Transition Generalized Parton Distributions: Status and Perspectives

QCD gives rise to a rich spectrum of excited baryon states. Understanding their internal structure is important for many areas of nuclear physics, such as nuclear forces, dense matter, and neutrino-nucleus interactions. Generalized parton distributions (GPDs) are an established tool for characterizing the QCD structure of the ground-state nucleon. They are used to create 3D tomographic images of the quark/gluon structure and quantify the mechanical properties such as the distribution of mass, angular momentum and forces in the system. Transition GPDs extend these concepts to $N \rightarrow N^\ast$ transitions and can be used to characterize the 3D structure and mechanical properties of baryon resonances. They can be probed in high-momentum-transfer exclusive electroproduction processes with resonance transitions $e + N \rightarrow e' + M + N^\ast$, such as deeply-virtual Compton scattering ($M = \gamma$) or meson production ($M = \pi, K$, $etc.$), and in related photon/hadron-induced processes. This White Paper describes a research program aiming to explore baryon resonance structure with transition GPDs. This includes the properties and interpretation of the transition GPDs, theoretical methods for structures and processes, first experimental results from JLab 12 GeV, future measurements with existing and planned facilities (JLab detector and energy upgrades, COMPASS/AMBER, EIC, EicC, J-PARC, LHC ultraperihperal collisions), and the theoretical and experimental developments needed to realize this program.

hep-ph

The determination of the spin and parity of a vector-vector system

We present a construction of the reaction amplitude for the inclusive production of a resonance decaying to a pair of identical vector particles such as $J/ψJ/ψ$, $ρρ$, $ϕϕ$. The method provides the possibility of determining the spin and parity of a resonance in a model-independent way. The methodology is demonstrated using the Standard Model decay of the Higgs boson to four leptons and through angular correlations in the production and decays of $J/ψ$ pairs.

hep-ph

The PDF4LHC21 combination of global PDF fits for the LHC Run III

A precise knowledge of the quark and gluon structure of the proton, encoded by the parton distribution functions (PDFs), is of paramount importance for the interpretation of high-energy processes at present and future lepton-hadron and hadron-hadron colliders. Motivated by recent progress in the PDF determinations carried out by the CT, MSHT, and NNPDF groups, we present an updated combination of global PDF fits: PDF4LHC21. It is based on the Monte Carlo combination of the CT18, MSHT20, and NNPDF3.1 sets followed by either its Hessian reduction or its replica compression. Extensive benchmark studies are carried out in order to disentangle the origin of the differences between the three global PDF sets. In particular, dedicated fits based on almost identical theory settings and input datasets are performed by the three groups, highlighting the role played by the respective fitting methodologies. We compare the new PDF4LHC21 combination with its predecessor, PDF4LHC15, demonstrating their good overall consistency and a modest reduction of PDF uncertainties for key LHC processes such as electroweak gauge boson production and Higgs boson production in gluon fusion. We study the phenomenological implications of PDF4LHC21 for a representative selection of inclusive, fiducial, and differential cross sections at the LHC. The PDF4LHC21 combination is made available via the LHAPDF library and provides a robust, user-friendly, and efficient method to estimate the PDF uncertainties associated to theoretical calculations for the upcoming Run III of the LHC and beyond.

hep-ph

Prospects for quarkonium studies at the high-luminosity LHC

Prospects for quarkonium-production studies accessible during the upcoming high-luminosity phases of the CERN Large Hadron Collider operation after 2021 are reviewed. Current experimental and theoretical open issues in the field are assessed together with the potential for future studies in quarkonium-related physics. This will be possible through the exploitation of the huge data samples to be collected in proton-proton, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions, both in the collider and fixed-target modes. Such investigations include, among others, those of: (i) J/psi and Upsilon produced in association with other hard particles; (ii) chi(c,b) and eta(c,b) down to small transverse momenta; (iii) the constraints brought in by quarkonia on gluon PDFs, nuclear PDFs, TMDs, GPDs and GTMDs, as well as on the low-x parton dynamics; (iv) the gluon Sivers effect in polarised-nucleon collisions; (v) the properties of the quark-gluon plasma produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions and of collective partonic effects in general; and (vi) double and triple parton scatterings.

hep-ph

Performance of a low gain avalanche detector in a medical linac and characterisation of the beam profile

Low gain avalanche detectors can measure charged particle fluences with high speed and spatial precision, and are a promising technology for radiation monitoring and dosimetry. A detector has been tested in a medical linac where single particles were observed with a time resolution of 50\,ps. The integrated response is similar to a standard ionising chamber but with a spatial precision twenty times finer, and a temporal precision over 100 million times better, with the capability to measure the charge deposited by a single linac pulse. The unprecedented resolving power allows the structure of the $\sim 3\,μ$s linac pulses to be viewed and the 350\,ps sub-pulses in the train to be observed.

physics.ins-det

New opportunities at the photon energy frontier

Ultra-peripheral collisions (UPCs) involving heavy ions and protons are the energy frontier for photon-mediated interactions. UPC photons can be used for many purposes, including probing low-$x$ gluons via photoproduction of dijets and vector mesons, probes of beyond-standard-model processes, such as those enabled by light-by-light scattering, and studies of two-photon production of the Higgs.

hep-ph

Light-by-light scattering in ultra-peripheral heavy-ion collisions at low diphoton masses

We present a study of photon-photon scattering in the mass range $W_{γγ} < 5$ GeV. We extend earlier calculations of this cross section for $W_{γγ}>$ 5 GeV into the low mass range where photoproduction of the pseudoscalar resonances $η$, $η^{'}(958)$ contributes to two-photon final states. We present the elementary photon-photon cross section as a function of diphoton mass $M_{γγ}$ arising from lepton and quark loop diagrams, and the visible cross section obtained with the gamma-gamma decay branching fractions of the resonances $η$, $η^{'}(958)$, $η_c(1S)$, $η_c(2S)$, $χ_{c0}(1P)$. We derive the corresponding cross sections in ultra-peripheral Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV by folding the elementary cross section with the heavy-ion photon fluxes. We consider the dominating background of the two-photon final state which arises from gamma decays of photoproduced $π^{0}$-pairs. Such $π^{0}$-pairs contribute to the background when only two of the four decay photons are within the experimental acceptance, while the other two photons escape undetected. We reduce this background by applying cuts on asymmetries of transverse momenta of the two photons and indicate how the background can be further suppressed using a multivariate sideband analysis. We present the cross section for the signal and the background at midrapidity $|η| <$ 0.9, and in the forward rapidity range 2.0 $< η<$ 4.5.

hep-ph

Central Exclusive Production at LHCb

The installation of a new sub-detector has improved the ability of LHCb to measure central exclusive production in Run 2 at the LHC. A measurement of central exclusive $J/ψ$ production is presented and improvements for the analysis of hadronic final states are discussed.

hep-ex

Central Exclusive Production at LHCb

Central Exclusive Production (CEP) is a unique process at hadron machines in which particles are produced via colourless propagators. LHCb have measured the cross-sections for the CEP of vector mesons, $J/ψ,ψ(2S),Υ(1S),Υ(2S)$ and $Υ(3S)$, which are photo-produced. In the double pomeron exchange process, preliminary measurements have been made of $χ_{c0},χ_{c1}, χ_{c2}$ meson production while the first observations of the CEP of pairs of charmonia, $J/ψJ/ψ$ and $J/ψψ(2S)$, have been made and limits obtained on the pair production of other charmonia.

hep-ex

Central Exclusive Production at LHCb

Central Exclusive Production is a unique QCD process in which particles are produced via colourless propagators. Several results have been obtained at LHCb for the production of single charmonia, pairs of charmonia, and single bottomonia.

hep-ex

PDF4LHC recommendations for LHC Run II

We provide an updated recommendation for the usage of sets of parton distribution functions (PDFs) and the assessment of PDF and PDF+$α_s$ uncertainties suitable for applications at the LHC Run II. We review developments since the previous PDF4LHC recommendation, and discuss and compare the new generation of PDFs, which include substantial information from experimental data from the Run I of the LHC. We then propose a new prescription for the combination of a suitable subset of the available PDF sets, which is presented in terms of a single combined PDF set. We finally discuss tools which allow for the delivery of this combined set in terms of optimized sets of Hessian eigenvectors or Monte Carlo replicas, and their usage, and provide some examples of their application to LHC phenomenology.

hep-ph

The PDF4LHC Working Group Interim Report

This document is intended as a study of benchmark cross sections at the LHC (at 7 TeV) at NLO using modern parton distribution functions currently available from the 6 PDF fitting groups that have participated in this exercise. It also contains a succinct user guide to the computation of PDFs, uncertainties and correlations using available PDF sets. A companion note, also submitted to the archive, provides an interim summary of the current recommendations of the PDF4LHC working group for the use of parton distribution functions and of PDF uncertainties at the LHC, for cross section and cross section uncertainty calculations.

hep-ph

The PDF4LHC Working Group Interim Recommendations

This note provides an interim summary of the current recommendations of the PDF4LHC working group for the use of parton distribution functions (PDFs) and of PDF uncertainties at the LHC, for cross section and cross section uncertainty calculations. It also contains a succinct user guide to the computation of PDF uncertainties and correlations using available PDF sets. A companion note (the PDF4LHC Working Group Interim Report) summarizes predictions for benchmark cross sections at the LHC (7 TeV) at NLO using modern PDFs currently available from 6 PDF fitting groups.

hep-ph

Di-photon and Photon+b/c Production Cross Sections at Ecm=2TeV

The inclusive di-photon cross-section is measured in the central region and found to be in good agreement with NLO QCD predictions. Cross-sections are presented for events containing an energetic photon in addition to a heavy flavour jet. The ratio of photon+c to photon+b events is also measured. Results are currently statistically limited and in agreement with Pythia predictions.

hep-ex