Baryon Production at LHC and Very High Energy Cosmic Ray Spectra

TL;DR

This paper analyzes baryon spectra from collider experiments at RHIC and LHC to understand their implications for cosmic ray spectra, examining transverse momentum behaviors and antiparticle ratios to shed light on cosmic ray features.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of baryon and heavy quark production data from collider experiments and explores their implications for cosmic ray spectra and antiparticle ratios.

Findings

Average transverse momenta grow as s^{0.06} with energy.

Change in average transverse momenta cannot explain the cosmic ray 'knee'.

Growing antiparticle-to-particle ratios are linked to baryon-antibaryon asymmetry.

Abstract

The spectra of baryons at LHC can explain the features of the proton spectra in cosmic rays (CR). It seems important to study all baryon data that are available from collider experiments in wide range of energies. Transverse momentum spectra of baryons from RHIC ($\sqrt(s)$=62 and 200 GeV) and from LHC ($\sqrt(s)$=0.9 and 7 TeV) have been considered. It is seen that the slope of distributions at low $p_T$'s is changing with energy. The QGSM fit of these spectra gives the average transverse momenta which behave as $s^{0.06}$ that is similar to the previously observed behavior of $\Lambda^0$ hyperon spectra. The change in average transverse momenta that are slowly growing in VHE hadron interactions at CR detectors cannot cause the "knee" in measured cosmic ray proton spectra. In addition, the available data on heavy quark hadron production from LHC-b at $\sqrt{s}$=7 TeV were also studied. The preliminary dependence of hadron average transverse momenta on their masses at LHC energy is presented. The possible source of cosmic ray antiparticle-to-particle ratios that are growing with energy was analyzed in the framework of QGSM, where the growing ratios are the result of local leading asymmetry between the production spectra of baryons and antibaryons in the kinematical region of proton target fragmentation. In the laboratory system of cosmic ray measurements this spectrum asymmetry will be seen as growing ratio of secondary antiparticle-to-particle spectra until the certain energy of secondaries. This conclusion makes the particle production at the sources of very high energy cosmic protons important, if the interactions with positive target matter would have place in proximity of these sources.