Impact of dijet and D-meson data from 5.02 TeV p+Pb collisions on nuclear PDFs

We discuss the new constraints on gluon parton distribution function (PDF) in lead nucleus, derivable with the Hessian PDF reweighting method from the 5.02 TeV p+Pb measurements of dijet (CMS) and $D^0$-meson (LHCb) nuclear modification ratios. The impact is found to be significant, placing stringent constraints in the mid- and previously unconstrained small-$x$ regions. The CMS dijet data confirm the existence of gluon anti-shadowing and the onset of small-$x$ shadowing, as well as reduce the gluon PDF uncertainties in the larger-$x$ region. The gluon constraints from the LHCb $D^0$ data, reaching down to $x \sim 10^{-5}$ and derived in a NLO perturbative QCD approach, provide a remarkable…

LHC data challenges the contemporary parton-to-hadron fragmentation functions

We discuss the inclusive high-pT charged-particle production in proton-proton collisions at the LHC. The experimental data are compared to the NLO perturbative QCD calculations employing various sets of parton-to-hadron fragmentation functions. Most of the theoretical predictions are found to disastrously overpredict the measured cross sections, even if the scale variations and PDF errors are accounted for. The problem appears to arise from the presently too hard gluon-to-hadron fragmentation functions.

Hadroproduction of open heavy flavour for PDF analyses

Due to the large masses of the charm and bottom quarks, their production cross sections are calculable within the perturbative QCD. This makes the heavy-quark mesons important observables in high-energy collisions of protons and nuclei. However, the available calculations for heavy-flavored-meson hadroproduction have been somewhat problematic in reliably describing the cross sections across the full kinematic range from zero to very high $p_{\rm T}$. This has put some question marks on the robustness of LHC heavy-flavored-meson measurements in studying the partonic structure of the colliding hadrons and nuclei. Here, we introduce SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ - a novel scheme for open heavy-flavour had…

Impact-parameter dependent nuclear parton distribution functions: EPS09s and EKS98s and their applications in nuclear hard processes

We determine the spatial (impact parameter) dependence of nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) using the $A$-dependence of the spatially independent (averaged) global fits EPS09 and EKS98. We work under the assumption that the spatial dependence can be formulated as a power series of the nuclear thickness functions $T_A$. To reproduce the $A$-dependence over the entire $x$ range we need terms up to $[T_A]^4$. As an outcome, we release two sets, EPS09s (LO, NLO, error sets) and EKS98s, of spatially dependent nPDFs for public use. We also discuss the implementation of these into the existing calculations. With our results, the centrality dependence of nuclear hard-process observables…

A comprehensive guide to the physics and usage of PYTHIA 8.3

This manual describes the PYTHIA 8.3 event generator, the most recent version of an evolving physics tool used to answer fundamental questions in particle physics. The program is most often used to generate high-energy-physics collision "events", i.e. sets of particles produced in association with the collision of two incoming high-energy particles, but has several uses beyond that. The guiding philosophy is to produce and reproduce properties of experimentally obtained collisions as accurately as possible. The program includes a wide ranges of reactions within and beyond the Standard Model, and extending to heavy ion physics. Emphasis is put on phenomena where strong interactions play a ma…

Electron-ion physics with the LHeC

The Large Hadron Electron Collider (LHeC) project is the proposal to use the existing LHC proton/ion beams and construct a new electron beam line to perform high-energy electron-proton/ion collisions. In this talk, we consider some of the physics topics that could be studied in the electron-ion mode. In particular, we estimate how much the current nuclear parton distribution fits could be improved with the deeply inelastic scattering measurements at the LHeC by including pseudodata into a global analysis. In addition, we discuss briefly other topics that would help to better understand some aspects of heavy-ion collisions, namely small-$x$ physics and hadron production with a nuclear target.

Modeling the Impact Parameter Dependence of the nPDFs With EKS98 and EPS09 Global Fits

So far the nuclear PDFs (nPDFs) in the global DGLAP fits have been taken to be spatially independent. In this work, using the $A$-dependence of the globally fitted sets EPS09 and EKS98, we have determined the spatial dependence of the nPDFs in terms of powers of the nuclear thickness functions. New spatially dependent nPDF sets EPS09s (NLO, LO, error sets) and EKS98s (LO) are released. As an application, we consider the nuclear modification factor $R_{dAu}^{\pi^0}$ at midrapidity for neutral pion production in deuteron-gold collisions at RHIC in NLO. Comparison with the PHENIX data in different centrality classes is also shown. In addition, predictions for the corresponding nuclear modifica…

Extracting the impact parameter dependence of the nPDFs from the EKS98 and EPS09 global fits

As all the globally fitted nuclear PDFs (nPDFs) have been so far impact parameter independent, it has not been possible to calculate the hard process cross sections in different centrality classes consistently with the global analyses. In \cite{Helenius:2012wd} we have offered a solution to this problem by determining two spatially dependent nPDF sets, \texttt{EPS09s} and \texttt{EKS98s}, using the $A$-systematics of the earlier global fits EPS09 and EKS98 and an assumption that the spatial dependence can be written as a power series of the nuclear thickness function. For a data comparison, we have calculated the nuclear modification factor of inclusive neutral pion production in d+Au colli…

Open-source QCD analysis of nuclear parton distribution functions at NLO and NNLO

We present new sets of nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) at next-to-leading order (NLO) and next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO). Our analyses are based on deeply inelastic scattering data with charged-lepton and neutrino beams on nuclear targets. In addition, a set of proton baseline PDFs is fitted within the same framework with the same theoretical assumptions. The results of this global QCD analysis are compared to existing nPDF sets and to the fitted cross sections. Also, the uncertainties resulting from the limited constraining power of the included experimental data are presented. The published work is based on an open-source tool, xFitter, which has been modified to be ap…

Constraining nPDFs with inclusive pions and direct photons at forward rapidities in p+Pb collisions at the LHC

In this talk, we present NLO pQCD predictions for inclusive pion and direct photon nuclear modifications in p+Pb collisions at mid- and forward rapidities at the LHC. In addition to the minimum bias predictions, we also address the centrality dependence with spatially dependent nuclear PDFs. To understand which regions of the nuclear momentum fraction $x_2$ these observables predominantly probe, we present also the underlying $x_2$ distributions at different rapidities. We are led to conclude that the isolated photons at forward rapidities are more sensitive to the small-$x_2$ dynamics than the inclusive pions.

Evidence of shadowing in inelastic nucleon-nucleon cross section

The Glauber modeling plays a key role in centrality-dependent measurements of heavy-ion collisions. A central input parameter in Glauber models is the inelastic nucleon-nucleon cross section $\sigma_{\text{nn}}^{\text{inel}}$ which is nearly always taken from proton-proton measurements. At the LHC energies $\sigma_{\text{nn}}^{\text{inel}}$ depends on the QCD dynamics at small $x$ and low interaction scales where the shadowing/saturation phenomena are expected to become relatively more important for larger nuclei than for the proton. Thus, $\sigma_{\text{nn}}^{\text{inel}}$ e.g. in Pb+Pb collisions may well be lower than what is seen in proton-proton collisions. In this talk, we demonstrate…

Probing the small- x nuclear gluon distributions with isolated photons at forward rapidities in p+Pb collisions at the LHC

Inclusive direct photon production in p+Pb collisions at the LHC is studied within the NLO perturbative QCD. Our aim is to quantify the dominant $x$ regions probed at different rapidities and to identify the best conditions for testing the nuclear gluon parton distribution functions (nPDFs) at small $x$. A comparison to the inclusive pion production reveals that from these two processes the photons carry more sensitivity to the small-$x$ partons and that this sensitivity can be further increased by imposing an isolation cut for the photon events. The details of the isolation criteria, however, seem to make only a small difference to the studied $x$ sensitivity and have practically no effect…

nPDF constraints from the large hadron electron collider

An updated analysis regarding the expected nuclear PDF constraints from the future Large Hadron Electron Collider (LHeC) experiment is presented. The new study is based on a more flexible small-$x$ parametrization which provides less biased uncertainty estimates in the region where there are currently no data constraints. The effect of the LHeC is quantified by directly including a sample of pseudodata according to the expected precision of this planned experiment. As a result, a significant reduction of the small-$x$ uncertainties in sea quarks and gluons is observed.

Spatially dependent parton distribution functions and hard processes in nuclear collisions

Probing nuclear PDFs with dijets in ultra-peripheral Pb+Pb collisions

In this talk we apply the photoproduction framework recently implemented into the Pythia 8 Monte Carlo event generator to study the potential of photo-nuclear dijets in ultra-peripheral Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC to further constrain the nuclear PDFs. These events can be described as $\gamma$A collisions where the relevant part of the flux of quasi-real photons from heavy-ions is obtained by using the equivalent photon approximation and cutting out impact-parameter values which would lead to hadronic interactions between the beam particles. In particular, we quantify the small-$x$ reach with different jet kinematics and show how well the values of $x$ derived from reconstructed jet momenta…

Shadowing in Inelastic Nucleon-Nucleon Cross Section?

Experimental results of inclusive hard-process cross sections in heavy-ion collisions conventionally lean on a normalization computed from Glauber models where the inelastic nucleon-nucleon cross section $\sigma_{\rm nn}^{\rm inel}$ -- a crucial input parameter -- is simply taken from proton-proton measurements. In this letter, using the computed electro-weak boson production cross sections in lead-lead collisions as a benchmark, we determine $\sigma_{\rm nn}^{\rm inel}$ from the recent ATLAS data. We find a significantly suppressed $\sigma_{\rm nn}^{\rm inel}$ relative to what is usually assumed, show the consequences for the centrality dependence of the cross sections, and address the phe…

NNLO nuclear parton distribution functions with electroweak-boson production data from the LHC

We present new sets of nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) at next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD. Our analyses are based on deeply inelastic scattering data with charged-lepton and neutrino beams on nuclear targets, and experimental data from measurements of $W^{\pm},\,Z$ boson production in p+Pb collisions at the LHC. In addition, a set of proton baseline PDFs is fitted within the same framework and with the same theoretical assumptions. The results of our global QCD analysis are compared to existing nPDF sets and to the previous nPDF set TUJU19 which was based on DIS data only. Our work is performed using an open-source tool, xFitter, and…

PREDICTIONS FOR p+PbCOLLISIONS AT $\sqrt{s_{_{\it NN}}} = 5$

Predictions for charged hadron, identified light hadron, quarkonium, photon, jet and gauge bosons in p+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\it NN}}} = 5\, {\rm TeV}$ are compiled and compared. When test run data are available, they are compared to the model predictions.

Neutron-skin effect in direct-photon and charged hadron-production in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC

A well-established observation in nuclear physics is that in neutron-rich spherical nuclei the distribution of neutrons extends farther than the distribution of protons. In this work, we scrutinize the influence of this so called neutron-skin effect on the centrality dependence of high-$p_{\rm T}$ direct-photon and charged-hadron production. We find that due to the estimated spatial dependence of the nuclear parton distribution functions, it will be demanding to unambiguously expose the neutron-skin effect with direct photons. However, when taking a ratio between the cross sections for negatively and positively charged high-$p_{\rm T}$ hadrons, even centrality-dependent nuclear-PDF effects …

B-meson hadroproduction in the SACOT-mT scheme

We apply the SACOT-mT general-mass variable flavour number scheme (GM-VFNS) to the inclusive B-meson production in hadronic collisions at next-to-leading order in perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics. In the GM-VFNS approach one matches the fixed-order heavy-quark production cross sections, accurate at low transverse momentum (pT), with the zero-mass cross sections, accurate at high pT. The physics idea of the SACOT-mT scheme is to do this by accounting for the finite momentum transfer required to create a heavy quark-antiquark pair throughout the calculation. We compare our results with the latest LHC data from proton-proton and proton-lead collisions finding a very good agreement within th…

Predictions for cold nuclear matter effects in p+Pb collisions at s N N = 8.16 TeV

Centrality and rapidity dependence of inclusive pion and prompt photon production in p+Pb collisions at the LHC with EPS09s nPDFs

The centrality dependencies of the inclusive neutral pion and prompt photon nuclear modification factors for p+Pb collisions at the LHC are studied using a spatially dependent set of nuclear PDFs, EPS09s. The calculations are performed at mid- and forward rapidities searching for an observable which would optimally probe the spatial dependence of the nuclear PDFs. In addition, we discuss to which $x$ values of the nucleus the different observables are sensitive.

A QCD analysis for nuclear PDFs at NNLO

A new QCD analysis for nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) at next-to-leading order (NLO) and next-to-next-to-leading order (NNLO) is presented. The framework of the analysis, including the form of the parameterization as well as the included DIS data sets, are discussed. The results of this QCD analysis are compared to the existing nPDF sets and to the fitted data. The presented framework is based on an open-source tool, xFitter, which has been modified to be applicable also for a nuclear PDF analysis. The required modifications are covered as well. Finally, an outlook for the next developments of the QCD analysis for nuclear PDFs is given.

Photoproduction of diffractive dijets in Pythia 8

The new framework for the simulations of hard diffractive events in photoproduction within Pythia 8 is presented. The model, originally introduced for proton-proton collisions, applies the dynamical rapidity gap survival probability based on the multiparton interaction model in Pythia. These additional interactions provide a natural explanation for the observed factorization-breaking effects in hard diffraction by filling up the rapidity gaps used to classify the events of diffractive origin. The generated cross sections are well in line with the existing data from HERA experiments and predictions for the future electron-ion collider are presented. In addition, also predictions for ultra-pe…

Neutron-skin effect and centrality dependence of high-$p_{\mathrm{T}}$ observables in nuclear collisions

We report on our studies of the neutron-skin effects in high-$p_{\mathrm{T}}$ observables at the LHC. We study the impact of the neutron-skin effect on the centrality dependence of inclusive direct photon, high-$p_{\mathrm{T}}$ hadron and $W^{\pm}$ production in nuclear collisions at the LHC. The neutron-skin effect refers to the observation that in spherical heavy nuclei, the tail of the neutron distribution extends farther than the distribution of protons, which can affect observables sensitive to electroweak phenomena in very peripheral collisions. We quantify this effect for direct photons, charged hadrons and W bosons as a function of the collision centrality. In the case of direct pho…

EPS09s and EKS98s: Impact parameter dependent nPDF sets

In our recent study we have determined two new spatially dependent nuclear PDF (nPDF) sets, EPS09s and EKS98s. With these, the hard-process cross-sections can be calculated in different centrality classes consistently with the globally analyzed nPDFs for the first time. The sets were determined by exploiting the $A$-systematics of the globally fitted nPDF sets, EPS09 and EKS98. For the spatial dependence of the nPDFs we used a power series ansatz in the nuclear thickness function $T_A$. In this flash talk we introduce the framework, and present our NLO EPS09s-based predictions for the nuclear modification factor in four centrality classes for inclusive neutral pion production in p+Pb collis…

Confronting current NLO parton fragmentation functions with inclusive charged-particle spectra at hadron colliders

The inclusive spectra of charged particles measured at high transverse momenta ($p_T\gtrsim$2GeV/c) in proton-proton and proton-antiproton collisions in the range of center-of-mass energies $\sqrt{s}=200-7000$GeV are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations using seven recent sets of parton-to-hadron fragmentation functions (FFs). Accounting for the uncertainties in the scale choices and in the parton distribution functions, we find that most of the theoretical predictions tend to overpredict the measured LHC and Tevatron cross sections by up to a factor of two. We identify the currently too-hard gluon-to-hadron FFs as the probable source of the problem, and justify…

Predictions for cold nuclear matter effects in p+Pb collisions at sNN=8.16 TeV

Predictions for cold nuclear matter effects on charged hadrons, identified light hadrons, quarkonium and heavy flavor hadrons, Drell–Yan dileptons, jets, photons, gauge bosons and top quark pairs produced in p +Pb collisions at sNN=8.16 TeV are compiled and, where possible, compared to each other. Predictions of the normalized ratios of p +Pb to p+p cross sections are also presented for most of the observables, providing new insights into the expected role of cold nuclear matter effects. In particular, the role of nuclear parton distribution functions on particle production can now be probed over a wider range of phase space than ever before.

Revisiting the D-meson hadroproduction in general-mass variable flavour number scheme

We introduce a novel realization of the open heavy-flavour hadroproduction in general-mass variable flavour number scheme at next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD. The principal novelty with respect to the earlier works is in the treatment of small-transverse-momentum limit, which has been a particularly challenging kinematic region in the past. We show that by a suitable choice of scheme, it is possible to obtain a well-behaved description of the open heavy-flavour hadroproduction cross sections from zero up to asymptotically high transverse momentum. We contrast our calculation with the available D$^0$-meson data as measured by the LHCb and ALICE collaborations at the LHC, finding a v…

Heavy-flavour production in the SACOT-mT scheme

The hadroproduction of heavy-flavoured mesons has recently attracted a growing interest e.g. within the people involved in global analysis of proton and nuclear parton distribution functions, saturation physics, and physics of cosmic rays. In particular, the D- and B-meson measurements of LHCb at forward direction are sensitive to gluon dynamics at small $x$ and are one of the few perturbative small-$x$ probes before the next generation deep-inelastic-scattering experiments. In this talk, we will concentrate on the collinear-factorization approach to inclusive D-meson production and describe a novel implementation --- SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ --- of the general-mass variable flavour number scheme …

Heavy flavour production in the SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ scheme

The hadroproduction of heavy-flavoured mesons has recently attracted a growing interest e.g. within the people involved in global analysis of proton and nuclear parton distribution functions, saturation physics, and physics of cosmic rays. In particular, the D- and B-meson measurements of LHCb at forward direction are sensitive to gluon dynamics at small $x$ and are one of the few perturbative small-$x$ probes before the next generation deep-inelastic-scattering experiments. In this talk, we will concentrate on the collinear-factorization approach to inclusive D-meson production and describe a novel implementation - SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ - of the general-mass variable flavour number scheme (GM-…

A QCD analysis of LHCb D-meson data in p plus Pb collisions

We scrutinize the recent LHCb data for D$^0$-meson production in p+Pb collisions within a next-to-leading order QCD framework. Our calculations are performed in the SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ variant of the general-mass variable-flavour-number scheme (GM-VFNS), which has previously been shown to provide a realistic description of the LHC p+p data. Using the EPPS16 and nCTEQ15 nuclear parton distribution functions (PDFs) we show that a very good agreement is obtained also in the p+Pb case both for cross sections and nuclear modification ratios in the wide rapidity range covered by the LHCb data. Encouraged by the good correspondence, we quantify the impact of these data on the nuclear PDFs by the Hes…

Nuclear PDF constraints from p+Pb collisions at the LHC

As the current nuclear PDF analyses are mainly constrained by fixed-target Drell-Yan and deeply inelastic scattering data only the quark nuclear modifications at fairly large $x$ values are in a good control. Inclusive pion production in d+Au collisions at RHIC provides some constraints for gluons but due to the limited kinematic reach of the data the gluon modifications remain uncertain especially at small values of $x$. In this talk, we discuss how the existing data from p+Pb collisions at the LHC can improve the nuclear PDF fits and which measurements would be sensitive to the small-$x$ gluons. In particular, we consider inclusive hadron production, compare this to direct photons, and sh…

Double D-meson production in proton-proton and proton-lead collisions at the LHC

We consider the simultaneous production of two heavy-flavoured hadrons - particularly D mesons - at the LHC. We base our calculations on collinearly factorized QCD at next-to-leading order, using the contemporary parton distribution functions and D-meson fragmentation functions. The contributions of double-parton scatterings are included in the approximation of independent partonic interactions. Our framework benchmarks well with the available proton-proton data from the LHCb collaboration giving us confidence to make predictions for proton-lead collisions. Our results indicate that the double D-meson production in proton-lead collisions should be measurable at the LHCb kinematics with the …

Hard diffraction in photoproduction with Pythia 8

We present a new framework for modeling hard diffractive events in photoproduction, implemented in the general purpose event generator Pythia 8. The model is an extension of the model for hard diffraction with dynamical gap survival in pp and ppbar collisions proposed in 2015, now also allowing for other beam types. It thus relies on several existing ideas: the Ingelman-Schlein approach, the framework for multiparton interactions and the recently developed framework for photoproduction in gamma p, gamma gamma, ep and $e^+e^-$ collisions. The model proposes an explanation for the observed factorization breaking in photoproduced diffractive dijet events at HERA, showing an overall good agreem…

B-meson hadroproduction in the SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ scheme

We apply the SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ general-mass variable flavour number scheme (GM-VFNS) to the inclusive B-meson production in hadronic collisions at next-to-leading order in perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics. In the GM-VFNS approach one matches the fixed-order heavy-quark production cross sections, accurate at low transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$), with the zero-mass cross sections, accurate at high $p_{\rm T}$. The physics idea of the SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ scheme is to do this by accounting for the finite momentum transfer required to create a heavy quark-antiquark pair throughout the calculation. We compare our results with the latest LHC data from proton-proton and proton-lead collisions fin…

Neutron-skin effect and centrality dependence of high-pT observables in nuclear collisions

We report on our studies of the neutron-skin effects in high-pT observables at the LHC. We study the impact of the neutron-skin effect on the centrality dependence of inclusive direct photon, highpT hadron and W± production in nuclear collisions at the LHC. The neutron-skin effect refers to the observation that in spherical heavy nuclei, the tail of the neutron distribution extends farther than the distribution of protons, which can affect observables sensitive to electroweak phenomena in very peripheral collisions. We quantify this effect for direct photons, charged hadrons and W bosons as a function of the collision centrality. In the case of direct photons we find that it will be difficu…

Constraining nPDFs with inclusive pions and direct photons at forward rapidities in p+Pb collisions at the LHC

Abstract In this talk, we present NLO pQCD predictions for inclusive pion and direct photon nuclear modifications in p + Pb collisions at mid- and forward rapidities at the LHC. In addition to the minimum bias predictions, we also address the centrality dependence with spatially dependent nuclear PDFs. To understand which regions of the nuclear momentum fraction x 2 these observables predominantly probe, we present also the underlying x 2 distributions at different rapidities. We are led to conclude that the isolated photons at forward rapidities are more sensitive to the small- x 2 dynamics than the inclusive pions.

Constraints for nuclear PDFs from the LHCb D-meson data

We quantify the impact of LHCb D-meson measurements at $\sqrt{s}=5 \, {\rm TeV}$ on the EPPS16 and nCTEQ15 nuclear PDFs. In our study, the theoretical description of D-meson production is based on the recently developed SACOT-$m_{\rm T}$ variant of the general-mass variable-flavour-number formalism, and the impact on PDFs is estimated via reweighting methods. We pay special attention on the theoretical uncertainties known to us, and are led to exclude the $p_{\rm T}<3 \, {\rm GeV}$ region from our main analysis. The LHCb data can be accommodated well within EPPS16 and nCTEQ15, and the data provide stringent constraints on the gluons in the shadowing/antishadowing regions. No evidence of …

Nuclear gluons at RHIC in a multi-observable approach

We explore the possibility of measuring nuclear gluon distributions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) with $\sqrt{s}=200 \, {\rm GeV}$ proton-nucleus collisions. In addition to measurements at central rapidity, we consider also observables at forward rapidity, consistent with proposed upgrades to the experimental capabilities of STAR and sPHENIX. The processes we consider consist of Drell-Yan dilepton, dijet, and direct photon-jet production. The Drell-Yan process is found to be an efficient probe of gluons at small momentum fractions. In order to fully utilize the potential of Drell-Yan measurements we demonstrate how the overall normalization uncertainty present in the experim…

Zeroing in on the initial state — tomography using bulk, jets and photons

One of the unsolved problems in the current 'standard model' of heavy ion physics is the apparent rapid thermalization of QCD matter in the pre-equilibrium stage. While it is challenging to probe this mechanism directly, there are now several observables available which allow tomographic imaging of the initial state geometry, which is expected to carry remnant information of the equilibration mechanism. On the fluid dynamics side, scaled fluctuations in the momentum space anisotropy parameters v_n image the initial eccentricity fluctuations epsilon_n almost directly with only a weak dependence on the details of the fluid dynamical evolution. From a different direction, due to the strong non…