Uncertainty due to quark energy loss in determining the nuclear sea quark distribution from nuclear Drell-Yan data
- Department of Physics, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050016 (China)
- Department of Physics, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 210017 (China)
By means of two different parametrizations of quark energy loss and the nuclear parton distributions determined only with lepton-nuclear deep inelastic scattering experimental data, a leading order phenomenological analysis is performed on the nuclear Drell-Yan differential cross section ratios for E772 experimental data. Uncertainty due to the quark energy loss effect is quantified in determining the nuclear sea quark distribution by using nuclear Drell-Yan data. It is found that the quark energy loss effect on nuclear Drell-Yan cross section ratios becomes greater with the increase of quark momentum fraction in the target nuclei. The uncertainty from the quark energy loss becomes bigger as the nucleus A becomes heavier. The Drell-Yan data on proton incident middle and heavy nuclei versus deuterium would result in an overestimate for nuclear modification in the sea quark distribution with neglecting the quark energy loss.
- OSTI ID:
- 21286913
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. C, Nuclear Physics, Vol. 79, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevC.79.048201; (c) 2009 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2813
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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