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At least 19 records

Measurement of the central exclusive production of charged particle pairs in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV with the STAR detector at RHIC

We report on the measurement of the Central Exclusive Production of charged particle pairs h+h- (h = π, K, p) with the STAR detector at RHIC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV. The charged particle pairs produced in the reaction pp → p' + h + h - + p' are reconstructed from the tracks in the central detector and identified using the specific energy loss and the time of flight method, while the forward-scattered protons are measured in the Roman Pot system. Exclusivity of the event is guaranteed by requiring the transverse momentum balance of all four final-state particles. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of observables related to the central hadronic final state and to the forward-scattered protons. They are measured in a fiducial region corresponding to the acceptance of the STAR detector and determined by the central particles’ transverse momenta and pseudorapidities as well as by the forward-scattered protons’ momenta. This fiducial region roughly corresponds to the square of the four-momentum transfers at the proton vertices in the range 0.04 GeV 2 < -t 1 , -t 2 < 0.2 GeV 2 , invariant masses of the charged particle pairs up to a few GeV and pseudorapidities of the centrally-produced hadrons in the range |η| < 0.7. The measured cross sections are compared to phenomenological predictions based on the Double Pomeron Exchange (DPE) model. Structures observed in the mass spectra of π + π - and K + K - pairs are consistent with the DPE model, while angular distributions of pions suggest a dominant spin-0 contribution to π + π - production. For π + π - production, the fiducial cross section is extrapolated to the Lorentz-invariant region, which allows decomposition of the invariant mass spectrum into continuum and resonant contributions. The extrapolated cross section is well described by the continuum production and at least three resonances, the f 0 (980), f 2 (1270) and f 0 (1500), with a possible small contribution from the f 0 (1370). Fits to the extrapolated differential cross section as a function of t 1 and t 2 enable extraction of the exponential slope parameters in several bins of the invariant mass of π + π - pairs. These parameters are sensitive to the size of the interaction region.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

12 C(e,e'pN) measurements of short range correlations in the tensor-to-scalar interaction transition region

High-momentum configurations of nucleon pairs at short-distance are probed using measurements of the $^{12}$C$(e,e'p)$ and $^{12}$C$(e,e'pN)$ reactions (where $N$ is either $n$ or $p$), at high-$Q^2$ and $x_B>1.1$. The data span a missing-momentum range of 300--1000 MeV/c and are predominantly sensitive to the transition region of the strong nuclear interaction from a Tensor to Scalar interaction. The data are well reproduced by theoretical calculations using the Generalized Contact Formalism with both chiral and phenomenological nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) interaction models. This agreement suggests that the measured high missing-momentum protons up to $1000$ MeV/c predominantly belong to short-ranged correlated (SRC) pairs. The measured $^{12}$C$(e,e'pN)$ / $^{12}$C$(e,e'p)$ and $^{12}$C$(e,e'pp)$ / $^{12}$C$(e,e'pn)$ cross-section ratios are consistent with a decrease in the fraction of proton-neutron SRC pairs and increase in the fraction of proton-proton SRC pairs with increasing missing momentum. This confirms the transition from an isospin-dependent tensor $NN$ interaction at $\sim 400$ MeV/c to an isospin-independent scalar interaction at high-momentum around $\sim 800$ MeV/c as predicted by theoretical calculation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Revealing the short-range structure of the mirror nuclei 3 H and 3 He

When protons and neutrons (nucleons) are bound into atomic nuclei, they are close enough to feel significant attraction, or repulsion, from the strong, short-distance part of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. These strong interactions lead to hard collisions between nucleons, generating pairs of highly energetic nucleons referred to as short-range correlations (SRCs). SRCs are an important but relatively poorly understood part of nuclear structure, and mapping out the strength and the isospin structure (neutron-proton (np) versus proton-proton (pp) pairs) of these virtual excitations is thus critical input for modelling a range of nuclear, particle and astrophysics measurements. Two-nucleon knockout or 'triple coincidence' reactions have been used to measure the relative contribution of np-SRCs and pp-SRCs by knocking out a proton from the SRC and detecting its partner nucleon (proton or neutron). These measurements have shown that SRCs are almost exclusively np pairs, but they had limited statistics and required large model-dependent final-state interaction corrections. Here we report on measurements using inclusive scattering from the mirror nuclei hydrogen-3 and helium-3 to extract the np/pp ratio of SRCs in systems with a mass number of three. In this work we obtain a measure of the np/pp SRC ratio that is an order of magnitude more precise than previous experiments, and find a marked deviation from the near-total np dominance observed in heavy nuclei. This result implies an unexpected structure in the high-momentum wavefunction for hydrogen-3 and helium-3. Understanding these results will improve our understanding of the short-range part of the nucleon-nucleon interaction.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Coulomb-free 1S0 p − p scattering length from the quasi-free p + d → p + p + n reaction and its relation to universality

Abstract The Coulomb-free 1 S 0 proton-proton ( p - p ) scattering length relies heavily on numerous and distinct theoretical techniques to remove the Coulomb contribution. Here, it has been determined from the half-off-the-energy-shell p - p scattering cross section measured at center-of-mass energies below 1 MeV using the quasi-free p + d → p + p + n reaction. A Bayesian data-fitting approach using the expression of the s-wave nucleon-nucleon scattering cross section returned a p - p scattering length $${a}_{pp}=-18.1{7}_{-0.58}^{+0.52}{| }_{stat}\pm 0.0{1}_{syst}$$ a p p = − 18.1 7 − 0.58 + 0.52 ∣ s t a t ± 0.0 1 s y s t fm and effective range r 0 = 2.80 ± 0.05 s t a t ± 0.001 s y s t fm. A model based on universality concepts has been developed to interpret this result. It accounts for the short-range interaction as a whole, nuclear and residual electromagnetic, according to what the s-wave phase-shift δ does in the description of low-energy nucleon-nucleon scattering data. We conclude that our parameters are representative of the short-range physics and propose to assess the charge symmetry breaking of the short-range interaction instead of just the nuclear interaction. This is consistent with the current understanding that the charge dependence of nuclear forces is due to different masses of up-down quarks and their electromagnetic interactions. This achievement suggests that these properties have a lesser than expected impact in the context of the charge symmetry breaking.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction from proton-proton to heavy ion collisions

The performance of muon tracking, identification, triggering, momentum resolution, and momentum scale has been studied with the CMS detector at the LHC using data collected at √(s$_{NN}$) = 5.02 TeV in proton-proton (pp) and lead-lead(PbPb) collisions in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and at √(s$_{NN}$) = 8.16 TeV in proton-lead (pPb) collisions in 2016. Muon efficiencies, momentum resolutions, and momentum scales are compared by focusing on how the muon reconstruction performance varies from relatively small occupancy pp collisions to the larger occupancies of pPb collisions and, finally, to the highest track multiplicity PbPb collisions. We find the efficiencies of muon tracking, identification, and triggering to be above 90% throughout most of the track multiplicity range. The momentum resolution and scale are unaffected by the detector occupancy. The excellent muon reconstruction of the CMS detector enables precision studies across all available collision systems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Solar fusion III: New data and theory for hydrogen-burning stars

In stars that lie on the main sequence in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, like our Sun, hydrogen is fused to helium in a number of nuclear reaction chains and series, such as the proton-proton chain and the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycles. Precisely determined thermonuclear rates of these reactions lie at the foundation of the standard solar model. This review, the third decadal evaluation of the nuclear physics of hydrogen-burning stars, is motivated by the great advances made in recent years by solar neutrino observatories, putting experimental knowledge of the proton-proton (𝑝⁢𝑝)-chain neutrino fluxes in the few-percent precision range. The basis of the review is a one-week community meeting held in July 2022 in Berkeley, California, and many subsequent digital meetings and exchanges. The relevant reactions of solar and stellar hydrogen burning are reviewed here from both theoretical and experimental perspectives. Recommendations for the state of the art of the astrophysical 𝑆 factor and its uncertainty are formulated for each of them. Furthermore, several other topics of paramount importance for the solar model are reviewed as well: recent and future neutrino experiments, electron screening, radiative opacities, and current and upcoming experimental facilities. In addition to reaction-specific recommendations, general recommendations are also formed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Uncertainty quantification for neutrino opacities in core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers

We perform an extensive study of the correlations between the neutrino-nucleon inverse mean free paths (IMFPs) and the underlying equation of states (EoSs). Strong interaction uncertainties in the neutrino mean free path are investigated in different density regimes. The nucleon effective mass, the nucleon chemical potentials, and the residual interactions in the medium play an important role in determining neutrino-nucleon interactions in a density-dependent manner. Here we study how the above quantities are constrained by an EoS consistent with (i) nuclear mass measurements, (ii) proton-proton scattering phase shifts, and (iii) neutron star observations. We then study the uncertainties of both the charged current and the neutral current neutrino-nucleon inverse mean free paths due to the variation of these quantities, using the Hartree-Fock+random phase approximation method. Finally, we calculate the Pearson correlation coefficients between (i) the EoS-based quantities and the EoS-based quantities; (ii) the EoS-based quantities and the IMFPs; (iii) the IMFPs and the IMFPs. We find a strong impact of residual interactions on neutrino opacity in the spin and spin-isospin channels, which are not well constrained by current nuclear modelings.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Femtoscopic correlations of identical charged pions and kaons in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV with event-shape selection

Collective behavior has been observed in high-energy heavy-ion collisions for several decades. Collectivity is driven by the high particle multiplicities that are produced in these collisions. At the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC), features of collectivity have also been seen in high-multiplicity proton-proton collisions that can attain particle multiplicities comparable to peripheral Pb-Pb collisions. One of the possible signatures of collective behavior is the decrease of femtoscopic radii extracted from pion and kaon pairs emitted from high-multiplicity collisions with increasing pair transverse momentum. This decrease can be described in terms of an approximate transverse mass scaling. In the present work, femtoscopic analyses are carried out by the ALICE Collaboration on charged pion and kaon pairs produced in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13TeV from the LHC to study possible collectivity in pp collisions. The event-shape analysis method based on transverse sphericity is used to select for spherical versus jetlike events, and the effects of this selection on the femtoscopic radii for both charged pion and kaon pairs are studied. This is the first time this selection method has been applied to charged kaon pairs. An approximate transverse-mass scaling of the radii is found in all multiplicity ranges studied when the difference in the Lorentz boost for pions and kaons is taken into account. This observation does not support the hypothesis of collective expansion of hot and dense matter that should only occur in high-multiplicity events. A possible alternate explanation of the present results is based on a scenario of common emission conditions for pions and kaons in pp collisions for the multiplicity ranges studied.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Origin of single transverse-spin asymmetries in high-energy collisions

In this paper, we perform the first simultaneous QCD global analysis of data from semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering, Drell-Yan, e + e - annihilation into hadron pairs, and proton-proton collisions. Consequently, we are able to extract a universal set of nonperturbative functions that describes the observed asymmetries in these reactions. The outcome of our analysis indicates single transverse-spin asymmetries in high-energy collisions have a common origin. Furthermore, we achieve the first phenomenological agreement with lattice QCD on the up and down quark tensor charges.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in Z -tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} =13$ TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a Z boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 < p T < 100 GeV and in the pseudorapidity range 2.5 < η <4. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb –1 . Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Gluon Sivers function from forward exclusive χ c 1 photoproduction on unpolarized protons

Exclusive production of a χ c 1 axial vector quarkonia in photon-proton scattering at high energies requires a C -odd t -channel exchange. In the limit of vanishing momentum transfer this occurs either via the exchange of a photon, the Primakoff process, where the spin of the proton does not change. For axial-vector meson production, as a consequence of the Landau-Yang theorem, the Primakoff cross section is finite as t → 0 . Alternatively, a C -odd spin dependent Odderon can be exchanged, which involves a spin flip of the proton. The resulting cross section is related to the square of the collinear trigluon correlator or the k ⊥ -moment of the gluon Sivers function. Using two models for the gluon Sivers function from the literature we compute the ratio of Sivers to Primakoff cross sections and the angular coefficient λ θ governing the angular distribution of the χ c 1 → J / ψ + γ decay as functions of x . We point out that these observables constrain the magnitude of the gluon Sivers function at small x which could be accessed in electron-proton scattering and ultraperipheral proton-proton and nucleus-proton collisions. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Parity- and Time-Reversal-Violating Nuclear Forces

Parity-violating and time-reversal conserving (PVTC) and parity-violating and time-reversal-violating (PVTV) forces in nuclei form only a tiny component of the total interaction between nucleons. The study of these tiny forces can nevertheless be of extreme interest because they allow one to obtain information on fundamental symmetries using nuclear systems. The PVTC interaction derives from the weak interaction between the quarks inside nucleons and nuclei, therefore the study of PVTC effects opens a window on the quark-quark weak interaction. The PVTV interaction is sensitive to more exotic interactions at the fundamental level, in particular to strong CP violation in the Standard Model Lagrangian, or even to exotic phenomena predicted in various beyond-the-Standard-Model scenarios. The presence of these interactions can be revealed either by studying various asymmetries in polarized scattering of nuclear systems, or by measuring the presence of non-vanishing permanent electric dipole moments of nucleons, nuclei and diamagnetic atoms and molecules. In this contribution, we review the derivation of the nuclear PVTC and PVTV interactions within various frameworks. We focus in particular on the application of chiral effective field theory, which allows for a more strict connection with the fundamental interactions at the quark level. We investigate PVTC and PVTV effects induced by these potentials on several few-nucleon observables, such as the longitudinal asymmetries in proton-proton scattering and the 3 He($\vec{n}$,p) 3 H reaction, the radiative neutron-proton capture, and the electric dipole moments of the deuteron and the trinucleon system.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗