Impact of the inelastic proton -- nucleus cross section on the prompt neutrino flux

The description of the inelastic proton -- nucleus cross section at very high energies is still an open question. The current theoretical uncertainty has direct impact on the predictions of the cosmic ray and neutrino physics observables. In this paper we consider different models for the treatment of $\sigma_{inel}^{pA}$, compare its predictions at ultrahigh cosmic ray energies and estimate the prompt neutrino flux at the neutrino energies that have been probed by the IceCube Observatory. We demonstrate that depending of the model used to describe $\sigma_{inel}^{pA}$, the predictions for the prompt neutrino flux can differ by a factor of order of three. Such result demonstrate the importance of a precise measurement of the inelastic proton -- nucleus cross section at high energies.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; v2: corrected the range of horizontal axis in figure 1. Matches the version published in Eur. Phys. J.

The QCD Pomeron in Ultraperipheral Heavy Ion Collisions: IV. Photonuclear Production of Vector Mesons

The photonuclear production of vector mesons in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions is investigated within the QCD color dipole picture, with particular emphasis on the saturation model. The integrated cross section and the rapidity distribution for the A + A --> V + A + A (V = rho, omega, phi, J/Psi) process are computed and theoretical estimates for scattering on both light and heavy nuclei are given for energies of RHIC and LHC. A comparison with the recent STAR data on coherent production of rho mesons is also presented. Furthermore, we calculate the photoproduction of vector mesons in proton-proton collisions at RHIC, Tevatron and LHC energies.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figures and 2 tables. Version to be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Nuclear Heavy Quark Photoproduction in a Saturation Model

We calculate the nuclear inclusive and diffractive cross sections for heavy quark photoproduction within a phenomenological saturation approach. The nuclear cross section is obtained by the extension of the saturation model through Glauber-Gribov formalism. We predict large nuclear heavy quark cross section at LHC energies.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Version to be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Coherent photon-hadron interactions in pA collisions: Small-x physics after HERA

In this letter we study the photoproduction of heavy quarks and vector mesons in the coherent proton-nucleus (pA) interactions for RHIC and LHC energies and analyze if these processes can be used to determine the QCD dynamics at high energies. The integrated cross section and rapidity distribution are estimated using the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) formalism. A comparison with the linear dynamics predictions is also presented. Our results indicate that the nonlinear dynamics can be proven in those reactions, which are well suited for studing saturation effects.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Version to be published in Physical Review