6533b82efe1ef96bd129284e
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Neutron-skin effect in direct-photon and charged hadron-production in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC
Kari J. EskolaKari J. EskolaHannu PaukkunenIlkka Heleniussubject
PhotonPhysics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)Nuclear TheoryHadronNuclear TheoryFOS: Physical sciencesATLAS DETECTORParton114 Physical sciences01 natural sciencesCENTRALITYNuclear physicsNuclear Theory (nucl-th)High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph)DEPENDENCE0103 physical sciencescharged-hadron productionNeutronROOT-S(NN)=2.76 TEVSpatial dependence010306 general physicsNuclear ExperimentEngineering (miscellaneous)PhysicsLarge Hadron Collider010308 nuclear & particles physicsQCD PREDICTIONSLEAD COLLISIONSObservableneutron-skin effectPPB COLLISIONS3. Good healthHigh Energy Physics - PhenomenologyDistribution functionRegular Article - Theoretical Physicsydinfysiikkadescription
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 cancel, making this observable a better handle on the neutron skin. Up to 20~\% effects can be expected for the most peripheral collisions.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-03-09 |