Cross Section and Transverse Single-Spin Asymmetry of $\eta$ Mesons in $p^{\uparrow}+p$ Collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV at Forward Rapidity

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of the cross section and transverse single-spin asymmetry of eta mesons in polarized proton-proton collisions at 200 GeV, providing insights into spin effects and particle production mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed measurement of eta meson asymmetries at forward rapidity in polarized collisions, comparing results with other mesons to explore the origin of spin asymmetries.

Findings

Cross section agrees with NLO pQCD calculations.

Measured asymmetry $A_N$ is approximately 6.1% for positive $x_F$.

Results are consistent with previous eta and pi0 asymmetry measurements.

Abstract

We present a measurement of the cross section and transverse single-spin asymmetry ($A_N$) for $\eta$ mesons at large pseudorapidity from $\sqrt{s}=200$~GeV $p^{\uparrow}+p$ collisions. The measured cross section for $0.5<p_T<5.0$~GeV/$c$ and $3.0<|\eta|<3.8$ is well described by a next-to-leading-order perturbative-quantum-chromodynamics calculation. The asymmetries $A_N$ have been measured as a function of Feynman-$x$ ($x_F$) from $0.2<|x_{F}|<0.7$, as well as transverse momentum ($p_T$) from $1.0<p_T<4.5$~GeV/$c$. The asymmetry averaged over positive $x_F$ is $\langle{A_{N}}\rangle=0.061{\pm}0.014$. The results are consistent with prior transverse single-spin measurements of forward $\eta$ and $\pi^{0}$ mesons at various energies in overlapping $x_F$ ranges. Comparison of different particle species can help to determine the origin of the large observed asymmetries in $p^{\uparrow}+p$ collisions.