Measurement of forward charged hadron flow harmonics in peripheral PbPb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with the LHCb detector

Flow harmonic coefficients, v n , which are the key to studying the hydrodynamics of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in heavy-ion collisions, have been measured in various collision systems and kinematic regions and using various particle species. The study of flow harmonics in a wide pseudorapidity range is particularly valuable to understand the temperature dependence of the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio of the QGP. This paper presents the first LHCb results of the second- and the third-order flow harmonic coefficients of charged hadrons as a function of transverse momentum in the forward region, corresponding to pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.9, using the data collected from PbPb collisions in 2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV . The coefficients measured using the two-particle angular correlation analysis method are smaller than the central-pseudorapidity measurements at ALICE and ATLAS from the same collision system but share similar features

Helium identification with LHCb

The identification of helium nuclei at LHCb is achieved using a method based on measurements of ionisation losses in the silicon sensors and timing measurements in the Outer Tracker drift tubes. The background from photon conversions is reduced using the RICH detectors and an isolation requirement. The method is developed using pp collision data at √(s) = 13 TeV recorded by the LHCb experiment in the years 2016 to 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.5 fb-1. A total of around 105 helium and antihelium candidates are identified with negligible background contamination. The helium identification efficiency is estimated to be approximately 50% with a corresponding background rejection rate of up to O(10^12). These results demonstrate the feasibility of a rich programme of measurements of QCD and astrophysics interest involving light nuclei

Curvature-bias corrections using a pseudomass method

Momentum measurements for very high momentum charged particles, such as muons from electroweak vector boson decays, are particularly susceptible to charge-dependent curvature biases that arise from misalignments of tracking detectors. Low momentum charged particles used in alignment procedures have limited sensitivity to coherent displacements of such detectors, and therefore are unable to fully constrain these misalignments to the precision necessary for studies of electroweak physics. Additional approaches are therefore required to understand and correct for these effects. In this paper the curvature biases present at the LHCb detector are studied using the pseudomass method in proton-proton collision data recorded at centre of mass energy √(s)=13 TeV during 2016, 2017 and 2018. The biases are determined using Z→μ + μ - decays in intervals defined by the data-taking period, magnet polarity and muon direction. Correcting for these biases, which are typically at the 10-4 GeV-1 level, improves the Z→μ + μ - mass resolution by roughly 18% and eliminates several pathological trends in the kinematic-dependence of the mean dimuon invariant mass

Nucleosynthesis of proton-rich nuclei. Experimental results on the rp-process

Experience NSCLInternational audienceWe report in this study the nuclear properties of proton-rich isotopes located along the rp-process path. The experiments have recently been performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University. The level properties above the proton separation energy of the nuclei 30S, 36K and 37Ca were measured with precision of < 10 keV. This will allow a reduction in the determination of the astrophysical (p, ) reaction rate under rp-process conditions

Measurement of the photon beam asymmetry in γ - p→K+ ς0 at Eγ=8.5 GeV

We report measurements of the photon beam asymmetry ς for the reaction γ - p→K+ς0(1193) using the GlueX spectrometer in Hall D at Jefferson Lab. Data were collected by using a linearly polarized photon beam in the energy range of 8.2-8.8 GeV incident on a liquid hydrogen target. The beam asymmetry ς was measured as a function of the Mandelstam variable t, and a single value of ς was extracted for events produced in the u channel. These are the first exclusive measurements of the photon beam asymmetry ς for the reaction in this energy range. For the t channel, the measured beam asymmetry is close to unity over the t range studied, -t=(0.1-1.4)(GeV/c)2, with an average value of ς=1.00±0.05. This agrees with theoretical models that describe the reaction via the natural-parity exchange of the K∗(892) Regge trajectory. A value of ς=0.41±0.09 is obtained for the u channel integrated up to -u=2.0 (GeV/c)2. © 2020 American Physical Society

Measurement of beam asymmetry for π- Δ++ photoproduction on the proton at Eγ=8.5 GeV

We report a measurement of the π- photoproduction beam asymmetry for the reaction γp→π-Δ++ using data from the GlueX experiment in the photon beam energy range 8.2-8.8 GeV. The asymmetry ς is measured as a function of four-momentum transfer t to the Δ++ and compared to phenomenological models. We find that ς varies as a function of t: negative at smaller values and positive at higher values of |t|. The reaction can be described theoretically by t-channel particle exchange requiring pseudoscalar, vector, and tensor intermediaries. In particular, this reaction requires charge exchange, allowing us to probe pion exchange and the significance of higher-order corrections to one-pion exchange at low momentum transfer. Constraining production mechanisms of conventional mesons may aid in the search for and study of unconventional mesons. This is the first measurement of the process at this energy. © 2021 American Physical Society

First Measurement of Near-Threshold J /ψ Exclusive Photoproduction off the Proton

We report on the measurement of the γp→J/ψp cross section from Eγ=11.8 GeV down to the threshold at 8.2 GeV using a tagged photon beam with the GlueX experiment. We find that the total cross section falls toward the threshold less steeply than expected from two-gluon exchange models. The differential cross section dσ/dt has an exponential slope of 1.67±0.39 GeV-2 at 10.7 GeV average energy. The LHCb pentaquark candidates Pc+ can be produced in the s channel of this reaction. We see no evidence for them and set model-dependent upper limits on their branching fractions B(Pc+→J/ψp) and cross sections σ(γp→Pc+)×B(Pc+→J/ψp). © 2019 American Physical Society

Beam asymmetry ς for the photoproduction of η and η′ mesons at Eγ=8.8 GeV

We report on the measurement of the beam asymmetry ς for the reactions γ - p→pη and γ - p→pη′ from the GlueX experiment using an 8.2-8.8-GeV linearly polarized tagged photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target in Hall D at Jefferson Laboratory. These measurements are made as a function of momentum transfer -t with significantly higher statistical precision than our earlier η measurements and are the first measurements of η′ in this energy range. We compare the results to theoretical predictions based on t-channel quasiparticle exchange. We also compare the ratio of ςη to ςη′ to these models as this ratio is predicted to be sensitive to the amount of ss exchange in the production. We find that photoproduction of both η and η′ is dominated by natural parity exchange with little dependence on -t. © 2019 American Physical Society

Search for photoproduction of axionlike particles at GlueX

We present a search for axionlike particles, a, produced in photon-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of approximately 4 GeV, focusing on the scenario where the a-gluon coupling is dominant. The search uses a→γγ and a→π+π-π0 decays, and a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 168 pb-1 collected with the GlueX detector. The search for a→γγ decays is performed in the mass range of 180&lt;ma&lt;480 MeV, while the search for a→π+π-π0 decays explores the 600&lt;ma&lt;720 MeV region. No evidence for a signal is found, and 90% confidence-level exclusion limits are placed on the a-gluon coupling strength. These constraints are the most stringent to date over much of the mass ranges considered. © 2022 authors. Published by the American Physical Society