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At least 217 records · Page 12
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DOE OSTI2022

Search for high-mass resonances decaying to a jet and a Lorentz-boosted resonance in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

A search is reported for high-mass hadronic resonances that decay to a parton and a Lorentz-boosted resonance, which in turn decays into a pair of partons. The search is based on data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. The boosted resonance is reconstructed as a single wide jet with substructure consistent with a two-body decay. The high-mass resonance is thus considered as a dijet system. The jet substructure information and the kinematic properties of cascade resonance decays are exploited to disentangle the signal from the large quantum chromodynamics multijet background. The dijet mass spectrum is analyzed for the presence of new high-mass resonances, and is found to be consistent with the standard model background predictions. Results are interpreted in a warped extra dimension model where the high-mass resonance is a Kaluza-Klein gluon, the boosted resonance is a radion, and the final state partons are all gluons. Limits on the production cross section are set as a function of the Kaluza-Klein gluon and radion masses. These limits exclude at 95% confidence level models with Kaluza-Klein gluon masses in the range from 2.0 to 4.3 TeV and radion masses in the range from 0.20 to 0.74 TeV. By exploring a novel experimental signature, the observed limits on the Kaluza-Klein gluon mass are extended by up to about 1 TeV compared to previous searches.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evidence for WW/WZ vector boson scattering in the decay channel ℓνqq produced in association with two jets in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

Evidence is reported for electroweak (EW) vector boson scattering in the decay channel $\ell\nu$qq of two weak vector bosons WV (V = W or Z), produced in association with two parton jets. The search uses a data set of proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector during 2016-2018 with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected requiring one lepton (electron or muon), moderate missing transverse momentum, two jets with a large pseudorapidity separation and a large dijet invariant mass, and a signature consistent with the hadronic decay of a W/Z boson. The cross section is computed in a fiducial phase space defined at parton level requiring all parton transverse momenta $p_\mathrm{T}$$\gt$ 10 GeV and at least one pair of outgoing partons with invariant mass $m_\mathrm{qq}$$\gt$ 100 GeV. The measured and expected EW WV production cross sections are 1.90 $^{+0.53}_{-0.46}$ pb and 2.23 $^{+0.08}_{-0.11}$ (scale) $\pm$ 0.05 (PDF) pb, respectively, where PDF is the parton distribution function. The observed EW signal strength is $m_\mathrm{EW}$ = 0.85 $\pm$ 0.12 (stat) $^{+0.19}_{-0.17}$ (syst), corresponding to a signal significance of 4.4 standard deviations with 5.1 expected, and it is measured keeping the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) associated diboson production fixed to the standard model prediction. This is the first evidence of vector boson scattering in the $\ell\nu$qq decay channel at LHC. The simultaneous measurement of the EW and QCD associated diboson production agrees with the standard model prediction.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Closing in on critical net-baryon fluctuations at LHC energies: Cumulants up to third order in Pb–Pb collisions

Fluctuation measurements are important sources of information on the mechanism of particle production at LHC energies. This article reports the first experimental results on third-order cumulants of the net-proton distributions in Pb–Pb collisions at a center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV recorded by the ALICE detector. The results on the second-order cumulants of net-proton distributions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 and 5.02 TeV are also discussed in view of effects due to the global and local baryon number conservation. The results demonstrate the presence of long-range rapidity correlations between protons and antiprotons. Such correlations originate from the early phase of the collision. The experimental results are compared with HIJING and EPOS model calculations, and the dependence of the fluctuation measurements on the phase-space coverage is examined in the context of lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD) and hadron resonance gas (HRG) model estimations. The measured third-order cumulants are consistent with zero within experimental uncertainties of about 4% and are described well by LQCD and HRG predictions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurement of the $t\bar{t}$ charge asymmetry in events with highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The measurement of the charge asymmetry in top quark pair events with highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks decaying to a single lepton and jets is presented. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb -1 . The selection is optimized for top quarks produced with large Lorentz boosts, resulting in nonisolated leptons and overlapping jets. The top quark charge asymmetry is measured for events with a $t\bar{t}$ invariant mass larger than 750 GeV and corrected for detector and acceptance effects using a binned maximum likelihood fit. The measured top quark charge asymmetry of ($0.42_{-0.69}^{+0.64}$) % is in good agreement with the standard model prediction at next-to-next-to-leading order in quantum chromodynamic perturbation theory with next-to-leading-order electroweak corrections. The result is also presented for two invariant mass ranges, 750–900 and > 900 GeV .

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Search for the chiral magnetic effect in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27 GeV with the STAR forward event plane detectors

A decisive experimental test of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is considered one of the major scientific goals at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) towards understanding the nontrivial topological fluctuations of the Quantum Chromodynamics vacuum. In heavy-ion collisions, the CME is expected to result in a charge separation phenomenon across the reaction plane, whose strength could be strongly energy dependent. The previous CME searches have been focused on top RHIC energy collisions. In this Letter, we present a low energy search for the CME in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27 GeV. We measure elliptic flow scaled charge-dependent correlators relative to the event planes that are defined at both mid-rapidity |η| < 1.0 and at forward rapidity 2.1 < |η| < 5.1. We compare the results based on the directed flow plane ( $Ψ$ 1 ) at forward rapidity and the elliptic flow plane ( $Ψ$ 2 ) at both central and forward rapidity. The CME scenario is expected to result in a larger correlation relative to $Ψ$ 1 than to $Ψ$ 2 , while a flow driven background scenario would lead to a consistent result for both event planes. In 10-50% centrality, results using three different event planes are found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, suggesting a flow driven background scenario dominating the measurement. We obtain an upper limit on the deviation from a flow driven background scenario at the 95% confidence level. This work opens up a possible road map towards future CME search with the high statistics data from the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase-II.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ab-initio nucleon-nucleon correlations and their impact on high energy 16 O+ 16 O collisions

Investigating nucleon-nucleon correlations inherent to the strong nuclear force is one of the core goals in nuclear physics research. We showcase the unique opportunities offered by collisions of 16 O nuclei at high-energy facilities to reveal detailed many-body properties of the nuclear ground state. We interface existing knowledge about the geometry of 16 O coming from ab-initio calculations of nuclear structure with transport simulations of high-energy 16 O+ 16 O collisions. Bulk observables in these processes, such as the elliptic flow or the fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum, are found to depend significantly on the input nuclear model and to be sensitive to realistic clustering and short-range repulsive correlations, effectively opening a new avenue to probe these features experimentally. This finding demonstrates collisions of oxygen nuclei as a tool to elucidate initial conditions of small collision systems while fostering connections with effective field theories of nuclei rooted in quantum chromodynamics (QCD).

Zhang, Chunjian [Fudan University, Shanghai (China↗
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of nuclear modification of energy-energy correlators inside jets in heavy ion collisions

Energy-energy correlators are constructed by averaging the number of charged particle pairs within jets, weighted by the product of their transverse momenta, as a function of the angular separation of the particles within a pair. They are sensitive to a multitude of perturbative and nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics phenomena in high-energy particle collisions. Using lead-lead data recorded with the CMS detector, energy-energy correlators inside high transverse momentum jets are measured in heavy ion collisions for the first time. The data are obtained at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 1.70 nb −1 . A similar analysis is done for proton-proton collisions at the same center-of-mass energy to establish a reference. The ratio of lead-lead to proton-proton energy-energy correlators reveals significant jet substructure modifications in the quark-gluon plasma. The results are compared to different models that incorporate either color coherence or medium response effects, where the two effects predict similar substructure modifications.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Determination of the strong coupling and its running from measurements of inclusive jet production

The value of the strong coupling α S is determined in a comprehensive analysis at next-to-next-to-leading order accuracy in quantum chromodynamics. The analysis uses double-differential cross section measurements from the CMS Collaboration at the CERN LHC of inclusive jet production in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 2.76, 7, 8, and 13 TeV, combined with inclusive deep-inelastic data from HERA. The value α S (m z ) = 0.1176 $^{+0.0014}_{-0.0016}$ is obtained at the scale of the Z boson mass. By using the measurements in different intervals of jet transverse momentum, the running of α S is probed for energies between 100 and 1600 GeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Nuclear matrix elements from lattice QCD for electroweak and beyond-Standard-Model processes

Over the last decade, numerical solutions of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) using the technique of lattice QCD have developed to a point where they are beginning to connect fundamental aspects of nuclear physics to the underlying degrees of freedom of the Standard Model. In this review, the progress of lattice QCD studies of nuclear matrix elements of electroweak currents and beyond-Standard-Model operators is summarized, and connections with effective field theories and nuclear models are outlined. Lattice QCD calculations of nuclear matrix elements can provide guidance for low-energy nuclear reactions in astrophysics, dark matter direct detection experiments, and experimental searches for violations of the symmetries of the Standard Model, including searches for additional CP violation in the hadronic and leptonic sectors, baryon-number violation, and lepton-number or flavor violation. Similarly, important inputs to neutrino experiments seeking to determine the neutrino-mass hierarchy and oscillation parameters, as well as other electroweak and beyond-Standard-Model processes can be determined. As a result, the phenomenological implications of existing studies of electroweak and beyond-Standard-Model matrix elements in light nuclear systems are discussed, and future prospects for the field toward precision studies of these matrix elements are outlined.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Precision tests of fundamental physics with η and η ' mesons

Decays of the neutral and long-lived $\eta$ and $\eta'$ mesons provide a unique, flavor-conserving laboratory to test low-energy Quantum Chromodynamics and search for new physics beyond the Standard Model. They have drawn world-wide attention in recent years and have inspired broad experimental programs in different high-intensity-frontier centers. Additionally, new experimental data will offer critical inputs to precisely determine the light quark mass ratios, $\eta$-$\eta'$ mixing parameters, and hadronic contributions to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. At the same time, it will provide a sensitive probe to test potential new physics. This includes searches for hidden photons, light Higgs scalars, and axion-like particles that are complementary to worldwide efforts to detect new light particles below the GeV mass scale, as well as tests of discrete symmetry violation. In this review, we give an update on theoretical developments, discuss the experimental opportunities, and identify future research needed in this field.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Overview of high-density QCD studies with the CMS experiment at the LHC

We review key measurements performed by CMS in the context of its heavy ion physics program, using event samples collected in 2010-2018 with several collision systems and energies. These studies provide detailed macroscopic and microscopic probes of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created at the LHC energies, a medium characterized by the highest temperature and smallest baryon-chemical potential ever reached in the laboratory. Numerous observables related to high-density quantum chromodynamics (QCD) were studied, leading to some of the most impactful and qualitatively novel results in the 40-year history of the field. Using a dedicated high-multiplicity trigger in the first pp run, CMS discovered that small collision systems can exhibit signs of collectivity, a generic phenomenon with significant implications and presently understood to affect essentially all soft physics processes. This observation opened new paths to understand how fluidity and plasma properties emerge in QCD matter as a function of system size. Measurements of jet quenching have reached a completely new level of detail by directly assessing, for the first time, the medium modification of parton showers, as opposed to simply observing leading hadrons or di-hadrons. The first fully reconstructed beauty hadron and heavy-flavor jet nuclear modifications were also measured. The large size of the event samples, the precision of the measurements, and the extension of the probed kinematical phase space, allowed many other hard probes of the QGP medium to be explored in detail, leading to multiple groundbreaking findings. In particular, the seminal measurements of bottomonium suppression patterns answer fundamental questions that have been actively pursued, both theoretically and experimentally, by the community since the mid-1980s. We conclude by outlining the opportunities offered by the continuation of this physics program at the LHC.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

QCD running couplings and effective charges

Here we discuss our present knowledge of $\alpha_s$, the fundamental running coupling or effective charge of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). A precise understanding of the running of $\alpha_s(Q^2) $ at high momentum transfer, $Q$, is necessary for any perturbative QCD calculation. Equally important, the behavior of $\alpha_s$} at low $Q^2$ in the nonperturbative QCD domain is critical for understanding strong interaction phenomena, including the emergence of mass and quark confinement. The behavior of $\alpha_s(Q^2)$ at all momentum transfers also provides a connection between perturbative and nonperturbative QCD phenomena, such as hadron spectroscopy and dynamics. We first sketch the origin of the QCD coupling, the reason why its magnitude depends on the scale at which hadronic phenomena are probed, and the resulting consequences for QCD phenomenology. We then summarize latest measurements in both the perturbative and nonperturbative domains. New theory developments include the derivation of the universal nonperturbative behavior of $\alpha_s(Q^2)$ from both the Dyson-Schwinger equations and light-front holography. We also describe theory advances for the calculation of gluon and quark Schwinger functions in the nonperturbative domain and the relation of these quantities to $\alpha_s$. We conclude by highlighting how the nonperturbative knowledge of $\alpha_s$ is now providing a parameter-free determination of hadron spectroscopy and structure, a central and long-sought goal of QCD studies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Temperature measurement of Quark-Gluon plasma at different stages

In a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), the fundamental building blocks of matter, quarks and gluons, are under extreme conditions of temperature and density. A QGP could exist in the early stages of the Universe, and in various objects and events in the cosmos. The thermodynamic and hydrodynamic properties of the QGP are described by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and can be studied in heavy-ion collisions. Despite being a key thermodynamic parameter, the QGP temperature is still poorly known. Thermal lepton pairs (e + e − and μ + μ − ) are ideal penetrating probes of the true temperature of the emitting source, since their invariant-mass spectra suffer neither from strong final-state interactions nor from blue-shift effects due to rapid expansion. Here we measure the QGP temperature using thermal e+e− production at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The average temperature from the low-mass region (in-medium ρ 0 vector-meson dominant) is (2.01 ± 0.23) × 10 12 K, consistent with the chemical freeze-out temperature from statistical models and the phase transition temperature from Lattice QCD. The average temperature from the intermediate mass region (above the ρ0 mass, QGP dominant) is significantly higher at (3.25 ± 0.60) × 10 12 K. This work provides essential experimental thermodynamic measurements to map out the QCD phase diagram and understand the properties of matter under extreme conditions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Observation of partonic flow in proton—proton and proton—nucleus collisions

Quantum Chromodynamics predicts a phase transition from hadronic matter to quark–gluon plasma (QGP) at high temperatures and energy densities, where quarks and gluons (partons) are no longer confined within hadrons. The QGP forms in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Anisotropic flow coefficients, quantifying the azimuthal expansion of produced matter, probe QGP properties. Flow measurements in high-energy heavy-ion collisions show a distinctive grouping of anisotropic flow for baryons and mesons at intermediate transverse momentum – a feature associated with flow imparted at the quark level, confirming QGP existence. The observation of QGP-like features in proton–proton and proton–ion collisions has sparked debate about QGP formation in smaller systems. For the first time, we demonstrate the distinctive grouping of anisotropic flow for baryons and mesons in high-multiplicity proton–lead and proton–proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). These results are described by a model including hydrodynamic flow followed by hadron formation via quark coalescence, consistent with the formation of partonic flowing systems in these collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Deeply virtual Compton scattering off the neutron

The three-dimensional structure of nucleons (protons and neutrons) is embedded in so-called generalized parton distributions, which are accessible from deeply virtual Compton scattering. In this process, a high-energy electron is scattered off a nucleon by exchanging a virtual photon. Then, a highly energetic real photon is emitted from one of the quarks inside the nucleon, which carries information on the quark's transverse position and longitudinal momentum. By measuring the cross-section of deeply virtual Compton scattering, Compton form factors related to the generalized parton distributions can be extracted. Here, we report the observation of unpolarized deeply virtual Compton scattering off a deuterium target. From the measured photon-electroproduction cross-sections, we have extracted the cross-section of a quasifree neutron and a coherent deuteron. Due to the approximate isospin symmetry of quantum chromodynamics, we can determine the contributions from the different quark flavours to the helicity-conserved Compton form factors by combining our measurements with previous ones probing the proton's internal structure. These results advance our understanding of the description of the nucleon structure, which is important to solve the proton spin puzzle. The internal structure of the neutron has now been probed by highly energetic photons scattering off it. Combined with previous results for protons, these measurements reveal the contributions of quark flavours to the nucleon structure.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evidence for quark-matter cores in massive neutron stars

The theory governing the strong nuclear force—quantum chromodynamics—predicts that at sufficiently high energy densities, hadronic nuclear matter undergoes a deconfinement transition to a new phase of quarks and gluons. Although this has been observed in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions, it is currently an open question whether quark matter exists inside neutron stars. By combining astrophysical observations and theoretical ab initio calculations in a model-independent way, we find that the inferred properties of matter in the cores of neutron stars with mass corresponding to 1.4 solar masses (M ⊙ ) are compatible with nuclear model calculations. However, the matter in the interior of maximally massive stable neutron stars exhibits characteristics of the deconfined phase, which we interpret as evidence for the presence of quark-matter cores. For the heaviest reliably observed neutron stars with mass M ≈ 2M ⊙ , the presence of quark matter is found to be linked to the behaviour of the speed of sound cs in strongly interacting matter. If the conformal bound ${c}_{\rm{s}}^{2}\le 1/3$ is not strongly violated, massive neutron stars are predicted to have sizable quark-matter cores. This finding has important implications for the phenomenology of neutron stars and affects the dynamics of neutron star mergers with at least one sufficiently massive participant.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ab initio predictions link the neutron skin of 208 Pb to nuclear forces

Heavy atomic nuclei have an excess of neutrons over protons, which leads to the formation of a neutron skin whose thickness is sensitive to details of the nuclear force. This links atomic nuclei to properties of neutron stars, thereby relating objects that differ in size by orders of magnitude. The nucleus 208 Pb is of particular interest because it exhibits a simple structure and is experimentally accessible. However, computing such a heavy nucleus has been out of reach for ab initio theory. By combining advances in quantum many-body methods, statistical tools and emulator technology, we make quantitative predictions for the properties of 208 Pb starting from nuclear forces that are consistent with symmetries of low-energy quantum chromodynamics. We explore 10 9 different nuclear force parameterizations via history matching, confront them with data in select light nuclei and arrive at an importance-weighted ensemble of interactions. We accurately reproduce bulk properties of 208 Pb and determine the neutron skin thickness, which is smaller and more precise than a recent extraction from parity-violating electron scattering but in agreement with other experimental probes. This work demonstrates how realistic two- and three-nucleon forces act in a heavy nucleus and allows us to make quantitative predictions across the nuclear landscape.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Probing the core of the strong nuclear interaction

The strong nuclear interaction between nucleons (protons and neutrons) is the effective force that holds the atomic nucleus together. This force stems from fundamental interactions between quarks and gluons (the constituents of nucleons) that are described by the equations of quantum chromodynamics. However, as these equations cannot be solved directly, nuclear interactions are described using simplified models, which are well constrained at typical inter-nucleon distances but not at shorter distances. This limits our ability to describe high-density nuclear matter such as that in the cores of neutron stars. Here we use high-energy electron scattering measurements that isolate nucleon pairs in short-distance, high-momentum configurations, accessing a kinematical regime that has not been previously explored by experiments, corresponding to relative momenta between the pair above 400 mega electron volts per c (c, speed of light in vacuum). As the relative momentum between two nucleons increases and their separation thereby decreases, we observe a transition from a spin-dependent tensor force to a predominantly spin-independent scalar force. These results demonstrate the usefulness of using such measurements to study the nuclear interaction at short distances and also support the use of point-like nucleon models with two- and three-body effective interactions to describe nuclear systems up to densities several times higher than the central density of the nucleus.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗