Inclusive and exclusive dilepton photoproduction at high energies

TL;DR

This paper studies inclusive and exclusive dilepton photoproduction at high energies, focusing on their sensitivity to photon parton distributions and small-x QCD dynamics, with implications for the proposed LHeC collider.

Contribution

It provides new estimates for cross sections and event rates, highlighting the role of saturation physics in exclusive dilepton production at high energies.

Findings

Inclusive process sensitive to photon parton distribution functions.

Exclusive process connected to small-x QCD dynamics.

Saturation effects significantly influence high-energy dilepton production.

Abstract

In this work we investigate the inclusive and exclusive photoproduction of dileptons, which is relevant for the physics programme to be studied in the proposed electron-proton collider, the LHeC. In the inclusive case, the process is sensitive to the parton distribution functions in the photon whereas the exclusive channel is connected to the small-$x$ QCD dynamics. For the latter, we investigate the role played by saturation physics at a very high energy scenario. The estimates for production cross sections and the number of events are presented.