More Like this

1. Observation of double $J/\psi$ meson production in $p\mathrm{Pb}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=8.16\mathrm{TeV}$

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.092002  

   Hayrapetyan, A; Tumasyan, A; Adam, W; Andrejkovic, J W; Bergauer, T; Chatterjee, S; Damanakis, K; Dragicevic, M; Hussain, P S; Jeitler, M; et al (November 2024, Physical Review D)

   The first observation of the concurrent production of two $J/\psi$mesons in proton-nucleus collisions is presented. The analysis is based on a proton-lead ( $p\mathrm{Pb}$) data sample recorded at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV by the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $174.6{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$. The two $J/\psi$mesons are reconstructed in their ${\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$decay channels with transverse momenta $p_{\mathrm{T}}>6.5\mathrm{GeV}$and rapidity $\left|y\right|<2.4$. Events where one of the $J/\psi$mesons is reconstructed in the dielectron channel are also considered in the search. The $p\mathrm{Pb}\to J/\psi J/\psi +X$process is observed with a significance of 5.3 standard deviations. The measured inclusive fiducial cross section, using the four-muon channel alone, is $\sigma (p\mathrm{Pb}\to J/\psi J/\psi +X)=22.0\pm 8.9\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 1.5\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)\mathrm{nb}$. A fit of the data to the expected rapidity separation for pairs of $J/\psi$mesons produced in single (SPS) and double (DPS) parton scatterings yields ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{SPS}}^{p\mathrm{Pb}\to J/\psi J/\psi +X}=16.5\pm 10.8\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.1\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)\mathrm{nb}$and ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{DPS}}^{p\mathrm{Pb}\to J/\psi J/\psi +X}=5.4\pm 6.2\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.4\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)\mathrm{nb}$, respectively. This latter result can be transformed into a lower bound on the effective DPS cross section, closely related to the squared average interparton transverse separation in the collision, of ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{eff}}>1.0\mathrm{mb}$at 95% confidence level. © 2024 CERN, for the CMS Collaboration2024CERN 

   more » « less
2. Measurement of the depth of maximum of air-shower profiles with energies between ${10}^{18.5}$ and ${10}^{20}\mathrm{eV}$ using the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory and deep learning

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.022003  

   Abdul_Halim, A; Abreu, P; Aglietta, M; Allekotte, I; Almeida_Cheminant, K; Almela, A; Aloisio, R; Alvarez-Muñiz, J; Ammerman_Yebra, J; Anastasi, G A; et al (January 2025, Physical Review D)

   We report an investigation of the mass composition of cosmic rays with energies from 3 to 100 EeV ( $1\mathrm{EeV}={10}^{18}\mathrm{eV}$) using the distributions of the depth of shower maximum $X_{\max }$. The analysis relies on $\sim 50,000$events recorded by the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory and a deep-learning-based reconstruction algorithm. Above energies of 5 EeV, the dataset offers a 10-fold increase in statistics with respect to fluorescence measurements at the Observatory. After cross-calibration using the fluorescence detector, this enables the first measurement of the evolution of the mean and the standard deviation of the $X_{\max }$distributions up to 100 EeV. Our findings are threefold: (i) The evolution of the mean logarithmic mass toward a heavier composition with increasing energy can be confirmed and is extended to 100 EeV. (ii) The evolution of the fluctuations of $X_{\max }$toward a heavier and purer composition with increasing energy can be confirmed with high statistics. We report a rather heavy composition and small fluctuations in $X_{\max }$at the highest energies. (iii) We find indications for a characteristic structure beyond a constant change in the mean logarithmic mass, featuring three breaks that are observed in proximity to the ankle, instep, and suppression features in the energy spectrum. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

   more » « less
3. Photoproduction of $K^{+}{K}^{-}$ Pairs in Ultraperipheral Collisions

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.222303  

   Acharya, S; Adamová, D; Aglieri_Rinella, G; Agnello, M; Agrawal, N; Ahammed, Z; Ahmad, S; Ahn, S U; Ahuja, I; Akindinov, A; et al (May 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   $K^{+}{K}^{-}$pairs may be produced in photonuclear collisions, either from the decays of photoproduced $\varphi \left(1020\right)$mesons or directly as nonresonant $K^{+}{K}^{-}$pairs. Measurements of $K^{+}{K}^{-}$photoproduction probe the couplings between the $\varphi \left(1020\right)$and charged kaons with photons and nuclear targets. The kaon-proton scattering occurs at energies far above those available elsewhere. We present the first measurement of coherent photoproduction of $K^{+}{K}^{-}$pairs on lead ions in ultraperipheral collisions using the ALICE detector, including the first investigation of direct $K^{+}{K}^{-}$production. There is significant $K^{+}{K}^{-}$production at low transverse momentum, consistent with coherent photoproduction on lead targets. In the mass range $1.1<M_{KK}<1.4\mathrm{GeV}/c^2$above the $\varphi \left(1020\right)$resonance, for rapidity $\left|y_{KK}\right|<0.8$and $p_{T,KK}<0.1\mathrm{GeV}/c$, the measured coherent photoproduction cross section is $\mathrm{d}\sigma /\mathrm{d}y=3.37\pm 0.61\left(\text{stat}\right)\pm 0.15\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)\mathrm{mb}$. The center-of-mass energy per nucleon of the photon-nucleus (Pb) system $W_{\gamma \mathrm{Pb},n}$ranges from 33 to 188 GeV, far higher than previous measurements on heavy-nucleus targets. The cross section is larger than expected for $\varphi \left(1020\right)$photoproduction alone. The mass spectrum is fit to a cocktail consisting of $\varphi \left(1020\right)$decays, direct $K^{+}{K}^{-}$photoproduction, and interference between the two. The confidence regions for the amplitude and relative phase angle for direct $K^{+}{K}^{-}$photoproduction are presented. © 2024 CERN, for the ALICE Collaboration2024CERN 

   more » « less
4. Search for photons above ${10}^{18}\mathrm{eV}$ by simultaneously measuring the atmospheric depth and the muon content of air showers at the Pierre Auger Observatory

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.110.062005  

   Abdul_Halim, A; Abreu, P; Aglietta, M; Allekotte, I; Almeida_Cheminant, K; Almela, A; Aloisio, R; Alvarez-Muñiz, J; Ammerman_Yebra, J; Anastasi, G A; et al (September 2024, Physical Review D)

   The Pierre Auger Observatory is the most sensitive instrument to detect photons with energies above $10^{17}\mathrm{eV}$. It measures extensive air showers generated by ultrahigh energy cosmic rays using a hybrid technique that exploits the combination of a fluorescence detector with a ground array of particle detectors. The signatures of a photon-induced air shower are a larger atmospheric depth of the shower maximum ( $X_{\max }$) and a steeper lateral distribution function, along with a lower number of muons with respect to the bulk of hadron-induced cascades. In this work, a new analysis technique in the energy interval between 1 and 30 EeV ( $1\mathrm{EeV}=10^{18}\mathrm{eV}$) has been developed by combining the fluorescence detector-based measurement of $X_{\max }$with the specific features of the surface detector signal through a parameter related to the air shower muon content, derived from the universality of the air shower development. No evidence of a statistically significant signal due to photon primaries was found using data collected in about 12 years of operation. Thus, upper bounds to the integral photon flux have been set using a detailed calculation of the detector exposure, in combination with a data-driven background estimation. The derived 95% confidence level upper limits are 0.0403, 0.01113, 0.0035, 0.0023, and $0.0021{\mathrm{km}}^{-2}{\mathrm{sr}}^{-1}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$above 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 EeV, respectively, leading to the most stringent upper limits on the photon flux in the EeV range. Compared with past results, the upper limits were improved by about 40% for the lowest energy threshold and by a factor 3 above 3 EeV, where no candidates were found and the expected background is negligible. The presented limits can be used to probe the assumptions on chemical composition of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays and allow for the constraint of the mass and lifetime phase space of super-heavy dark matter particles. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

   more » « less
5. First Measurement of $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)$ as an Inclusive Test of the $b\to c\tau \nu$ Anomaly

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.211804  

   Adachi, I; Adamczyk, K; Aggarwal, L; Ahmed, H; Aihara, H; Akopov, N; Aloisio, A; Asner, D M; Atmacan, H; Aushev, T; et al (May 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   We measure the tau-to-light-lepton ratio of inclusive $B$-meson branching fractions $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)\equiv \mathcal{B}(B\to X\tau \nu )/\mathcal{B}(B\to X\ell \nu )$, where $\ell$indicates an electron or muon, and thereby test the universality of charged-current weak interactions. We select events that have one fully reconstructed $B$meson and a charged lepton candidate from $189{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$of electron-positron collision data collected with the Belle II detector. We find $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)=0.228\pm 0.016\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.036\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)$, in agreement with standard-model expectations. This is the first direct measurement of $R\left(X_{\tau /\ell }\right)$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

   more » « less