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1. Observation of the Charged-Particle Multiplicity Dependence of ${\sigma }_{\psi \left(2S\right)}/{\sigma }_{J/\psi }$ in $p$ -Pb Collisions at 8.16 TeV

   https://doi.org/10.1103/c9wp-5tq3  

   Chekhovsky, V; Hayrapetyan, A; Makarenko, V; Tumasyan, A; Adam, W; Andrejkovic, J W; Benato, L; Bergauer, T; Chatterjee, S; Damanakis, K; et al (August 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   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 $\left(\psi \left(2S\right)\right)$and ground state $\left(J/\psi \right)$vector mesons is measured as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity in proton-lead ( $p\mathrm{Pb}$) collisions at a center-of-mass (CM) energy per nucleon pair of 8.16 TeV. The data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $175{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$were collected using the CMS detector. The ratio is measured separately for prompt and nonprompt charmonia in the transverse momentum range $6.5<p_{\mathrm{T}}<30\mathrm{GeV}$and in four rapidity ranges spanning $-2.865<y_{\mathrm{CM}}<1.935$. 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. 

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2. 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 

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3. Observation of Coherent $\varphi \left(1020\right)$ Meson Photoproduction in Ultraperipheral PbPb Collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.36\mathrm{TeV}$

   https://doi.org/10.1103/2ssw-wwyy  

   Chekhovsky, V; Hayrapetyan, A; Makarenko, V; Tumasyan, A; Adam, W; Andrejkovic, J W; Benato, L; Bergauer, T; Damanakis, K; Dragicevic, M; et al (December 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   The first observation of coherent $\varphi \left(1020\right)$meson photoproduction off heavy nuclei is presented using ultraperipheral lead-lead collisions at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.36 TeV. The data were collected by the CMS experiment and correspond to an integrated luminosity of $1.62\mathrm{\mu }{b}^{-1}$. The $\varphi \left(1020\right)$meson signals are reconstructed via the $K^{+}{K}^{-}$decay channel. The production cross section is presented as a function of the $\varphi \left(1020\right)$meson rapidity in the range $0.3<\left|y\right|<1.0$, probing gluons that carry a fraction of the nucleon momentum ( $x$) around ${10}^{-4}$. The observed cross section exhibits little dependence on rapidity and is significantly suppressed, by a factor of $\sim 5$, compared to a baseline model that treats a nucleus as a collection of free nucleons. Theoretical models that incorporate the nuclear shadowing effect generally provide a better description of the $\varphi \left(1020\right)$data than those incorporating gluon saturation. This study establishes a powerful new tool for exploring nuclear effects and nuclear gluonic structure in the small- $x$regime at a unique energy scale bridging the perturbative and nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics domains. 

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4. Probing Gluon Fluctuations in Nuclei with the First Energy-Dependent Measurement of Incoherent $J/\psi$ Photoproduction in Ultraperipheral PbPb Collisions

   https://doi.org/10.1103/w9kp-f8xr  

   Chekhovsky, V; Hayrapetyan, A; Makarenko, V; Tumasyan, A; Adam, W; Andrejkovic, J W; Benato, L; Bergauer, T; Chatterjee, S; Damanakis, K; et al (September 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   Incoherent $J/\psi$photoproduction in heavy ion ultraperipheral collisions (UPCs) provides a sensitive probe of localized, fluctuating gluonic structures within heavy nuclei. This Letter reports the first measurement of the photon-nucleon center-of-mass energy ( $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$) dependence of this process in PbPb UPCs at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV, using $1.52{\mathrm{nb}}^{-1}$of data recorded by the CMS experiment. The measurement covers a wide $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$range of $\approx 40–400\mathrm{GeV}$, probing gluons carrying a fraction $x$of nucleon momentum down to an unexplored regime of $6.5\times {10}^{-5}$. Compared to baseline predictions neglecting nuclear effects, the measured cross sections exhibit significantly greater suppression at lower $x$. Additionally, the ratio of incoherent to coherent photoproduction is found to be constant across the probed $W_{\gamma \mathrm{N}}$and $x$range, disfavoring the establishment of the black disk limit. This Letter provides critical insights into the $x$-dependent evolution of fluctuating gluonic structures within nuclei and calls for further advancements in theoretical models incorporating nuclear shadowing and gluon saturation. 

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5. 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 

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