Inclusive Hadron Production in the CERN-LHC Era

TL;DR

This paper analyzes inclusive hadron production at the CERN-LHC, comparing experimental data with QCD predictions, and explores how future data can improve understanding of hadronization processes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive phenomenological analysis using the latest fragmentation functions and models medium effects in proton-lead collisions, highlighting uncertainties and future prospects.

Findings

Comparison of LHC data with NLO QCD expectations

Predictions for identified hadron distributions at various energies

Assessment of uncertainties in fragmentation functions

Abstract

We present a detailed phenomenological analysis of single-inclusive hadron production at the CERN-LHC in both proton-proton and proton-lead collisions. First data from the LHC experiments on charged hadron spectra are compared to next-to-leading order QCD expectations, and predictions are made for identified pion, kaon, and proton distributions differential in transverse momentum and rapidity for LHC energies from 900 GeV to 14 TeV. The results are obtained with the latest sets of vacuum fragmentation functions based on global QCD analyses, and recently proposed medium modified fragmentation functions are used to model hadronization in proton-lead collisions assuming standard QCD factorization. Besides estimating theoretical ambiguities due to the choice of factorization and renormalization scales and parton densities, we carefully assess uncertainties due to our present knowledge of parton-to-hadron fragmentation functions with the Lagrange multiplier technique. It is outlined to what extent future LHC data will contribute to further our quantitative understanding of hadronization processes.