Measurement of the inclusive phi cross-section in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports the measurement of the inclusive phi meson production cross-section in proton-proton collisions at 7 TeV using the LHCb detector, providing data to test and improve theoretical models.

Contribution

First measurement of the inclusive phi cross-section at 7 TeV in the specified kinematic range with detailed systematic uncertainties.

Findings

Measured cross-section: 1758 ± 19 (stat) +43/-14 (syst) ± 182 (scale) microbarns.

Pythia 6.4 predictions underestimate the observed cross-section.

Provides data for tuning QCD models at LHC energies.

Abstract

The cross-section for inclusive phi meson production in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV has been measured with the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The differential cross-section is measured as a function of the phi transverse momentum p_T and rapidity y in the region 0.6 < p_T < 5.0 GeV/c and 2.44 < y < 4.06. The cross-section for inclusive phi production in this kinematic range is sigma(pp -> phi X) = 1758 pm 19(stat) ^{+43}_{-14}(syst) pm 182(scale) microbarn, where the first systematic uncertainty depends on the p_T and y region and the second is related to the overall scale. Predictions based on the Pythia 6.4 generator underestimate the cross-section.