Probing fluctuating protons using forward neutrons in soft and hard inelastic proton-nucleus scattering
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We present a model for the distribution of the number of forward neutrons emitted in soft (minimum bias) and hard inelastic proton-nucleus ( p A ) scattering at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. It is based on the Gribov-Glauber model for the distribution over the number of inelastic collisions (wounded nucleons) combined with a parametrization of cross section (color) fluctuations in the projectile proton, which depend on the parton momentum fraction x p , and the assumption of independent neutron emissions. We observe that, while the effect of soft color fluctuations is modest, a reduction of the interaction strength with increasing x p provides the dominant effect. It allows us to qualitatively describe the trend of the ATLAS data on the zero degree calorimeter (ZDC) energy spectra of forward neutrons emitted in dijet production in inelastic p A scattering at s N N = 8.16 TeV.
Source: Physical Review C
DOI: 10.1103/jxyf-8xvm
Authors: M. Alvioli, V. Guzey, M. Strikman
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: G1003533401, THEORETICAL STUDIES IN HIGH ENERGY NUCLEAR PHYSICS, G222768804, Center of Excellence in Quark Matter, G3019630846, G3276698141, G3313409958, G5534641189, THEORETICAL STUDIES IN HIGH ENERGY NUCLEAR PHYSICS, THEORETICAL STUDIES IN HIGH ENERGY NUCLEAR PHYSICS, Nuclear parton distributions and QCD matter properties from LHC data, THEORETICAL STUDIES IN HIGH ENERGY NUCLEAR PHYSICS, Center of Excellence in Quark Matter
OpenAlex ID: W4413911575