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At least 91 records · Page 5
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DOE OSTI2025

Tagging efficiency study of incoherent diffractive vector meson production at the second interaction region at the Electron-Ion Collider

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) is an upcoming accelerator facility aimed at exploring the properties of quarks and gluons in nucleons and nuclei, shedding light on their structure and dynamics. The inaugural experimental apparatus, ePIC (electron-Proton and Ion Collider), is designed as a general-purpose detector to address the National Academy of Sciences and the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee physics program at the EIC. The wider EIC community is strongly supporting a second interaction region and an associated second detector to enhance the full science program. In this study, we evaluate how this second interaction region and detector can be complementary to ePIC. The layout of an interaction region for the second detector offers a secondary focus that provides better forward detector acceptance at scattering angles near θ ~ 0 mrad, which can specifically enhance the exclusive, tagging, and diffractive physics program. Here, this article presents an analysis of a tagging program using the second interaction region layout with incoherent diffractive vector meson production. The current design of the second EIC interaction region is evaluated for its vetoing capabilities of incoherent events required for the study of coherent diffractive measurements. We find an increased vetoing performance compared to the ePIC interaction region, thus improving measurements which are important for the spatial imaging of nucleons and nuclei.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

𝐷 0 -meson-tagged jet axes difference in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 5.02 TeV

Heavy-flavor quarks produced in proton-proton (pp) collisions provide a unique opportunity to investigate the evolution of quark-initiated parton showers from initial hard scatterings to final-state hadrons. By examining jets that contain heavy-flavor hadrons, this study explores the effects of both perturbative and nonperturbative QCD on jet formation and structure. The angular differences between various jet axes, Δ⁢𝑅 axis , offer insight into the radiation patterns and fragmentation of charm quarks. The first measurement of 𝐷 0 -tagged jet axes differences in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ =5.02 TeV by the ALICE experiment at the LHC is presented for jets with transverse momentum 𝑝$^{ch jet}_{T}$ ≥ 10 GeV/𝑐 and 𝐷 0 mesons with 𝑝$^{D^0}_{T}$ ≥ 5 GeV/𝑐. In this 𝐷 0 -meson-tagged jet measurement, three jet axis definitions, each with different sensitivities to soft, wide-angle radiation, are used: the standard axis, soft drop groomed axis, and winner-takes-all axis. Measurements of the radial distributions of 𝐷 0 mesons with respect to the jet axes, Δ⁢𝑅 axis−D 0 , are reported, along with the angle, Δ⁢𝑅 axis , between the three jet axes. The 𝐷 0 meson emerges as the leading particle in these jets, closely aligning with the winner-takes-all axis and diverging from the standard jet axis. The results also examine how varying the sensitivity to soft radiation with grooming influences the orientation of the soft drop jet axis and uncover that charm-jet structure is more likely to survive grooming when the soft drop axis is further from the 𝐷 0 direction, providing further evidence of the dead-cone effect recently measured by ALICE.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Monte Carlo Global QCD Analyses of the Pion Parton Distribution Functions

As the lightest hadron, the pion presents itself as a dichotomy. While being the pseudo Goldstone boson associated with chiral symmetry breaking, it is simultaneously regarded as the lightest pseudoscalar meson typically composed of constituent quark and antiquark. As the chiral symmetry shares the same global symmetry as QCD, studying the pion and its internal structure is key in understanding one of the four fundamental forces of nature, namely the quantum chromodynamic strong interaction. We study the pion's parton distribution functions (PDFs), which are universal quantities that describe the structure of the pion in terms of its constituent quarks, antiquarks, and gluons. Our goal is to discover what the available data reveal for these universal quantities, namely the PDFs. Through the use of factorization theorems and perturbative QCD, we use Monte Carlo (MC) methods to extract the PDFs from the available Drell-Yan (DY) and leading neutron (LN) data. While the DY process involves two hadrons colliding, the LN electroproduction involves an electron beam incident on a target nucleon. We can constrain well the pion PDFs at large momentum fraction using DY data, and at low momentum fraction using LN data. We also use threshold resummation in the DY process to gather predictable higher order terms associated with the soft gluon radiation because their contributions to the cross section are nontrivial. In this dissertation, we parametrize the pion PDFs and fit those parameters to the available data. We make use of Bayesian inference and use MC techniques to sample the parameter space. Three sets of results are presented. We first extract the pion PDFs by fitting the DY and LN data. Then, we include transverse momentum dependent DY data in conjunction with the DY and LN data to extract the pion PDFs. Finally, we apply various methods of threshold resummation to the DY cross section and extract pion PDFs. The pion PDFs presented here are the first global QCD analyses performed as well as the first MC extracted pion PDFs, which are at the forefront of the pion PDF community.

Barry, Patrick↗
DOE OSTI2021

EFT at FASERν

We investigate the sensitivity of the FASERv detector to new physics in the form of non-standard neutrino interactions. FASERv which will be installed 480 m downstream of the ATLAS interaction point, will for the first time study interactions of multi-TeV neutrinos from a controlled source. Our formalism — which is applicable to any current and future neutrino experiment — is based on the Standard Model Effective Theory (SMEFT) and its counterpart, Weak Effective Field Theory (WEFT), below the electroweak scale. Starting from the WEFT Lagrangian, we compute the coefficients that modify neutrino production in meson decays and detection via deep-inelastic scattering, and we express the new physics effects in terms of modified flavor transition probabilities. For some coupling structures, we find that FASERv will be able to constrain interactions that are two to three orders of magnitude weaker than Standard Model weak interactions, implying that the experiment will be indirectly probing new physics at the multi-TeV scale. In some cases, FASERv constraints will become comparable to existing limits — some of them derived for the first time in this paper — already with 150 fb -1 of data.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Vector meson production in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions

We review model calculations of exclusive vector meson production in ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions. We highlight differences and similarities between different dipole models and leading twist shadowing calculations. Recent color glass condensate calculations are presented with focus on effects from nuclear structure and azimuthal anisotropies driven by interference effects.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Spatial imaging of polarized deuterons at the Electron-Ion Collider

We study diffractive vector meson production at small-x in the collision of electrons and polarized deuterons e + d $\uparrow$ . We consider the polarization dependence of the nuclear wave function of the deuteron, which results in an azimuthal angular dependence of the produced vector meson when the deuteron is transversely polarized. The Fourier coefficients extracted from the azimuthal angular dependence of the vector meson differential cross-section exhibit notable differences between longitudinally and transversely polarized deuterons. The angular dependence of the extracted effective deuteron radius provides direct insight into the structure of the polarized deuteron wave function. Furthermore, we observe slightly increased gluon saturation effects when the deuteron is longitudinally polarized compared to the transversely polarized case. The small-x observables studied in this work will be accessible at the future Electron-Ion Collider.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Quark structure of the $\chi _{\mathrm{c}}(3P)$ and X(4274) resonances and their strong and radiative decays

We calculate the masses of χc(3P) states with threshold corrections in a coupled-channel model. The model was recently applied to the description of the properties of χc(2P) and χb(3P) multiplets (Ferretti and Santopinto in Phys Lett B 789:550, 2019]. We also compute the open-charm strong decay widths of the χc(3P) states and their radiative transitions. According to our predictions, the χc(3P) states should be dominated by the charmonium core, but they may also show small meson-meson components. The X(4274) is interpreted as a cc¯ χc1(3P) state. More information on the other members of the χc(3P) multiplet, as well as a more rigorous analysis of the X(4274)’s decay modes, are needed to provide further indications on the quark structure of the previous resonance.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Holograhic Wigner distributions for the pion

Here, we study the Wigner distributions of the pion using a holographic light-front pion wavefunction with dynamical spin effects to reveal its multidimensional structure.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Excited nucleon spectrum and structure studies with CLAS and CLAS12

The study of the spectrum and structure of excited nucleon states employing the electroproduction of exclusive reactions is an important avenue for exploring the nature of the non-perturbative strong interaction. The CLAS detector in Hall B has provided the dominant part of the available world data on most relevant meson electroproduction channels off the nucleon in the resonance region for Q2 up to 5 GeV2. Analyses of CLAS data for the exclusive channels πN, ηN, and π+π-p on a proton target have provided the only results available on the Q2 evolution of the electro-excitation amplitudes for the transitions from the initial photon-proton to the final N* states in the mass range up to W =1.8 GeV. These electrocouplings allow for exploration of the internal structure of the produced excited nucleon states. This work has made it clear that consistent results from independent analyses of several exclusive channels with different resonance hadronic decay parameters and non-resonant backgrounds but the same N* electro-excitation amplitudes, is essential to have confidence in the extracted results. Starting in early 2018, a program to study the spectrum and structure of N* states in various exclusive electroproduction channels using the new CLAS12 spectrometer commenced. These studies will probe the structure of N* states in the mass range up to W =3 GeV and for Q2 as low as 0.05 GeV2 and as high as 10-12 GeV2, thus providing a means to access N* structure information spanning a broad range of distance scales. Quasi-real photoproduction studies are also planned to search for additional N* states, the so-called hybrid baryons, for which the glue serves as an active structural component. In this talk the N* programs from both CLAS and CLAS12 will be reviewed.

Carman, D. S.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Study of Nucleon Resonance Electroexcitations at Jefferson Lab

Nucleons are the most fundamental three-body systems in Nature. During the last decade crucial progress has been achieved in the exploration of the spectrum and the structure of nucleon resonances. Studies of exclusive ?N, ?+??p, K?, and K? electroproduction off protons on the evolution of the electrocouplings with photon virtuality Q2 using the CLAS spectrometer has revealed a complex interplay between an inner core of three dressed quarks surrounded by an external meson-baryon cloud. CLAS12 is the only facility capable of extending these results on the electrocouplings into the unexplored Q2 range, spanning the domain of quark momenta where ? 50% of hadron mass is generated. The increase of the CEBAF energy and the upgrade of the CLAS12 spectrometer to measure exclusive electroproduction channels at higher luminosity and photon virtualities will offer a unique opportunity to explore how the dominant part of hadron mass and the bound three-quark structure of the resonant states emerge from QCD.

Achenbach, Patrick↗
DOE OSTI2021

Study of ${\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0$ → J/ψπ + π – K + K – decays

The decays ${\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0$ → J/ψπ + π – K + K – are studied using a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb –1 , collected with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. The decays ${\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0$ → $\mathrm{J}/{ψ \mathrm{K}}^{\ast 0}{\overline{\mathrm{K}}}^{\ast 0}$ and ${\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0$ → χ c1 (3872)K + K – , where the K + K – pair does not originate from a Φ meson, are observed for the first time. Precise measurements of the ratios of branching fractions between intermediate χ c1 (3872)Φ, $\mathrm{J}/{ψ \mathrm{K}}^{\ast 0}{\overline{\mathrm{K}}}^{\ast 0}$, ψ(2S)Φ and χ c1 (3872)K + K – states are reported. A structure, denoted as X(4740), is observed in the J/ψΦ mass spectrum and, assuming a Breit-Wigner parameterisation, its mass and width are determined to be ${\displaystyle \begin{array}{c}{m}_{\mathrm{X}(4740)}=4741\pm 6\pm 6\kern0.5em \mathrm{MeV}/{c}^2,\\ {}{\Gamma}_{\mathrm{X}(4740)}=53\pm 15\pm 11\kern0.5em \mathrm{MeV},\end{array}}$ where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. In addition, the most precise single measurement of the mass of the ${\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0$ meson is performed and gives a value of ${m}_{{\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0}=5366.98\pm 0.07\pm 0.13\kern0.5em \mathrm{MeV}/{c}^2.$

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Roper Resonance Structure and Exploration of Emergent Hadron Mass from CLAS Electroproduction Data

The N(1440)1/2 + nucleon resonance, first identified in 1964 by Roper and collaborators in analyses of πN hadroproduction data, has continued to provide pivotal insights that serve to advance our understanding of nucleon excited states. In this contribution, we present results from studies of the structure of the Roper resonance based on exclusive πN and π + π − p electro production data measured with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. These analyses have revealed the Roper resonance as a complex interplay between an inner core of three dressed quarks and an external meson–baryon cloud. Analyses of the CLAS results on the evolution of the Roper resonance electroexcitation amplitudes with photon virtuality Q 2 , within the framework of the Continuum Schwinger Method, have conclusively demonstrated the capability to gain insight into the strong interaction dynamics responsible for generating more than 98% of hadron mass. Further extension of such studies to higher Q 2 , through experiments currently underway with the CLAS12 detector and in the future with a potential CEBAF energy upgrade to 22 GeV, offers the only foreseeable opportunity to explore the full range of distances where the dominant portion of hadron mass and resonance structure emerge.

Mokeev, Victor I. [Thomas Jefferson National Accel↗
DOE OSTI2025

Global analysis of $μ → e$ interactions in the SMEFT

We study current experimental bounds on charged lepton flavor violating (CLFV) μ – e interactions in the model-independent framework of the Standard Model Effective Field Theory (SMEFT). Assuming a generic flavor structure in the quark sector, we consider the contributions of CLFV operators to low-energy observables, including μ → eγ and μ → e conversion for quark-flavor conserving operators and CLFV meson decays for quark-flavor violating operators. At high energy, we consider limits on CLFV decays of the Higgs and Z bosons and of the top quark, and obtain bounds on operators with light quarks by recasting searches for production of eμ pairs in pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We connect observables at low- and high-energy by taking into account renormalization group running and matching between CLFV operators. We also discuss the sensitivity of the future Electron-Ion Collider, where the prospective bounds are derived by imposing simple cuts on final state particles. We find that, in a single operator scenario, bounds on purely leptonic operators are dominated by μ → eγ and μ → e conversion. Semileptonic operators with down-type quarks are also dominantly constrained by low-energy observables, while LHC searches lead the bounds on up-type quark-flavor violating operators. Taking simplified multiple-coupling scenarios, we show that it is easy to evade the strongest low-energy bounds from spin-independent μ → e conversion, and that collider searches are competitive and complementary to constraints from spin-dependent μ → e conversion and other low-energy probes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Determination of the spin and parity of all-charm tetraquarks

The traditional quark model accounts for the existence of baryons, such as protons and neutrons, which consist of three quarks, as well as mesons, composed of a quark–antiquark pair. Only recently has substantial evidence started to accumulate for exotic states composed of four or five quarks and antiquarks. The exact nature of their internal structure remains uncertain. Here we report the first measurement of quantum numbers of the recently discovered family of three all-charm tetraquarks, using data collected by the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider from 2016 to 2018 . The angular analysis techniques developed for the discovery and characterization of the Higgs boson have been applied to the new exotic states. Here we show that the quantum numbers for parity P and charge conjugation C symmetries are found to be +1. The spin J of these exotic states is determined to be consistent with 2ħ, while 0ħ and 1ħ are excluded at 95% and 99% confidence levels, respectively. The J PC = 2 ++ assignment implies particular configurations of constituent spins and orbital angular momenta, which constrain the possible internal structure of these tetraquarks.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Simulating Meson Scattering on Spin Quantum Simulators

Studying high-energy collisions of composite particles, such as hadrons and nuclei, is an outstanding goal for quantum simulators. However, preparation of hadronic wave packets has posed a significant challenge, due to the complexity of hadrons and the precise structure of wave packets. This has limited demonstrations of hadron scattering on quantum simulators to date. Observations of confinement and composite excitations in quantum spin systems have opened up the possibility to explore scattering dynamics in spin models. In this article, we develop two methods to create entangled spin states corresponding to wave packets of composite particles in analog quantum simulators of Ising spin Hamiltonians. One wave-packet preparation method uses the blockade effect enabled by beyond-nearest-neighbor Ising spin interactions. The other method utilizes a quantum-bus-mediated exchange, such as the native spin-phonon coupling in trapped-ion arrays. With a focus on trapped-ion simulators, we numerically benchmark both methods and show that high-fidelity wave packets can be achieved in near-term experiments. We numerically study scattering of wave packets for experimentally realizable parameters in the Ising model and find inelastic-scattering regimes, corresponding to particle production in the scattering event, with prominent and distinct experimental signals. Our proposal, therefore, demonstrates the potential of observing inelastic scattering in near-term quantum simulators.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Observation of the Charged-Particle Multiplicity Dependence of 𝜎 𝜓⁡(2⁢𝑆 )/𝜎 𝐽/𝜓 in 𝑝-Pb Collisions at 8.16 TeV

Bound states of charm and anticharm quarks, known as charmonia, have a rich spectroscopic structure that can be used to probe the dynamics of hadron production in high-energy hadron collisions. Here, the cross section ratio of excited (𝜓⁡(2⁢𝑆)) and ground state (𝐽/𝜓) vector mesons is measured as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity in proton-lead (𝑝⁢Pb) collisions at a center-of-mass (CM) energy per nucleon pair of 8.16 TeV. The data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 175 nb −1 were collected using the CMS detector. The ratio is measured separately for prompt and nonprompt charmonia in the transverse momentum range 6.5 < 𝑝 T < 30 GeV and in four rapidity ranges spanning −2.865 < 𝑦 CM < 1.935. For the first time, a statistically significant multiplicity dependence of the prompt cross section ratio is observed in proton-nucleus collisions. There is no clear rapidity dependence in the ratio. The prompt measurements are compared with a theoretical model which includes interactions with nearby particles during the evolution of the system. These results provide additional constraints on hadronization models of heavy quarks in nuclear collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Weak structure functions in $\nu_l-N$ and $\nu_l-A$ scattering with nonperturbative and higher order perturbative QCD effects

We study the effect of various perturbative and nonperturbative QCD corrections on the free nucleon structure functions [FiNWI(x,Q2);i=1–3] and their implications in the determination of nuclear structure functions. The evaluation of the nucleon structure functions has been performed by using the MMHT 2014 parton distribution functions (PDFs) parametrization, and the target mass correction (TMC) and higher twist (HT) effects are incorporated following the works of Schienbein et al. and Dasgupta et al., respectively. These nucleon structure functions are taken as input in the determination of nuclear structure functions. The numerical calculations for the νl/ν¯l-A deep inelastic scattering (DIS) process have been performed by incorporating the nuclear medium effects like Fermi motion, binding energy, nucleon correlations, mesonic contributions, shadowing, and antishadowing in several nuclear targets such as carbon, polystyrene scintillator, iron, and lead, which are being used in MINERνA, and in argon nuclei, which is relevant for the ArgoNeuT and DUNE experiments. The differential scattering cross sections d2σAWIdxdy and (dσAWIdx/dσCHWIdx) have also been studied in the kinematic region of the MINERνA experiment. The theoretical results are compared with the recent experimental data of MINERνA and the earlier data of the NuTeV, CCFR, CDHSW, and CHORUS Collaborations. Moreover, a comparative analysis of the present results for the ratio (dσAWIdx/dσCHWIdx), and the results from the Monte Carlo (MC) generator GENIE and other phenomenological models of Bodek and Yang, and Cloet et al., has been performed in the context of the MINERνA experiment. The predictions have also been made for the ν¯l-A cross section relevant for the MINERνA experiment.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Improving neutrino oscillation measurements through event classification

Precise neutrino energy reconstruction is essential for next-generation long-baseline oscillation experiments, yet current methods remain limited by large uncertainties in neutrino-nucleus interaction modeling. Even so, it is well established that different interaction channels produce systematically varying amounts of missing energy and therefore yield different reconstruction performance–information that standard calorimetric approaches do not exploit. We introduce a strategy that incorporates this structure by classifying events according to their underlying interaction type prior to energy reconstruction. Using supervised machine-learning techniques trained on labeled generator events, we leverage intrinsic kinematic differences among quasielastic scattering, meson-exchange current, resonance production, and deep-inelastic scattering processes. A cross-generator testing framework demonstrates that this classification approach is robust to microphysics mismodeling and, when applied to a simulated DUNE 𝜈 𝜇 disappearance analysis, yields improved accuracy and sensitivity at the 10%–20% level. These results highlight a practical path toward reducing reconstruction-driven systematics in future oscillation measurements.

Ellis, Sebastian A. R. [King's College, London (Un↗