$\phi$-meson production at forward rapidity in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV and in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 2.76 TeV

TL;DR

This study measures $$-meson production at forward rapidity in p-Pb and pp collisions at the LHC, revealing nuclear modification effects and providing new differential cross section data in these collision systems.

Contribution

First measurement of $$-meson production at forward rapidity in p-Pb collisions at 5.02 TeV, including differential cross sections and nuclear modification factors, with a comparison to pp reference data at 2.76 TeV.

Findings

Forward-backward ratio ~0.5 with no $p_T$ dependence.

Enhancement of $R_{pPb}$ up to 1.6 at $p_T$=3-4 GeV/c.

Differential cross sections provided for p-Pb and pp collisions.

Abstract

The first study of $\phi$-meson production in p-Pb collisions at forward and backward rapidity, at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$~TeV, has been performed with the ALICE apparatus at the LHC. The $\phi$-mesons have been identified in the dimuon decay channel in the transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) range $1 < p_{\rm T} < 7$ GeV/$c$, both in the p-going ($2.03 < y < 3.53$) and the Pb-going ($-4.46 < y < -2.96$) directions, where $y$ stands for the rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass, the integrated luminosity amounting to $5.01 \pm 0.19$~nb$^{-1}$ and $5.81 \pm 0.20$~nb$^{-1}$, respectively, for the two data samples. Differential cross sections as a function of transverse momentum and rapidity are presented. The forward-backward ratio for $\phi$-meson production is measured for $2.96<|y|<3.53$, resulting in a ratio $\sim 0.5$ with no significant $p_{\rm T}$ dependence within the uncertainties. The $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of the $\phi$ nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm pPb}$ exhibits an enhancement up to a factor 1.6 at $p_{\rm T}$ = 3-4 GeV/$c$ in the Pb-going direction. The $p_{\rm T}$ dependence of the $\phi$-meson cross section in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 2.76 TeV, which is used to determine a reference for the p-Pb results, is also presented here for $1 < p_{\rm T} < 5$ GeV/$c$ and $2.5 <y < 4$ for a $78 \pm 3$~nb$^{-1}$ integrated luminosity sample.