Diffractive dissociation in proton-nucleus collisions at collider energies

TL;DR

This paper estimates the nuclear diffractive dissociation cross sections in proton-lead collisions at LHC energies, highlighting theoretical uncertainties and analyzing the invariant mass distribution of the dissociation products.

Contribution

It provides the first estimates of diffractive dissociation cross sections at collider energies with an analysis of associated uncertainties.

Findings

Cross sections: 19.67 ± 5.41 mb at 5.02 TeV

Cross sections: 18.76 ± 5.77 mb at 8.8 TeV

Analysis of invariant mass M_X for pPb -> pX

Abstract

The cross section for the nuclear diffractive dissociation in proton-lead collisions at the LHC is estimated. Based on the current theoretical uncertainties for the single (target) diffactive cross section in hadron-hadron reactions one obtains sigma_SD(5.02 TeV) = 19.67 \pm 5.41 mb and sigma_SD(8.8 TeV) = 18.76 \pm 5.77 mb, respectively. The invariant mass M_X for the reaction pPb -> pX is also analyzed. Discussion is performed on the main theoretical uncertainties associated to the calculations.