Quarkonium Physics at a Fixed-Target Experiment Using the LHC Beams
We outline the many quarkonium-physics opportunities offered by a multi-purpose fixed-target experiment using the p and Pb LHC beams extracted by a bent crystal. This provides an integrated luminosity of 0.5 fb{sup -1} per year on a typical 1cm-long target. Such an extraction mode does not alter the performance of the collider experiments at the LHC. With such a high luminosity, one can analyse quarkonium production in great details in pp, pd and pA collisions at {radical}s{sub NN} {approx_equal} 115 GeV and at {radical}s{sub NN} {approx_equal} 72 GeV in PbA collisions. In a typical pp (pA) run, the obtained quarkonium yields per unit of rapidity are 2-3 orders of magnitude larger than those expected at RHIC and about respectively 10 (70) times larger than for ALICE. In PbA, they are comparable. By instrumenting the target-rapidity region, the large negative-x{sub F} domain can be accessed for the first time, greatly extending previous measurements by Hera-B and E866. Such analyses should help resolving the quarkonium-production controversies and clear the way for gluon PDF extraction via quarkonium studies. The nuclear target-species versatility provides a unique opportunity to study nuclear matter and the features of the hot and dense matter formed in PbA collisions. A polarised proton target allows the study of transverse-spin asymmetries in J/{Psi} and {Upsilon} production, providing access to the gluon and charm Sivers functions.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); The France-Stanford Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (FSCIS).
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 1038421
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-PUB-14940; arXiv:1204.5793; TRN: US1201857
- Journal Information:
- Few Body Syst.53:11-25,2012, Conference: Presented at 30 Years of strong interactions: a three-day meeting in honor of Joseph Cugnon and Hans-Jurgen Pirner, Spa, Liege, Belgium, 6-8 Apr 2011
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Prospects for quarkonium studies at the high-luminosity LHC