Centrality-dependent forward $J/\psi$ production in high energy proton-nucleus collisions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the production of forward $J/$ mesons varies with collision centrality in high energy proton-nucleus interactions, using the Color Glass Condensate framework to compare with LHC data.

Contribution

It extends previous work by analyzing the centrality dependence of nuclear suppression in the CGC model and compares the results with recent experimental data.

Findings

Centrality dependence of $J/$ suppression matches LHC observations.

Glauber approach improves agreement with experimental data.

Results support gluon saturation effects in high energy collisions.

Abstract

Forward $J/\psi$ production and suppression in high energy proton-nucleus collisions can be an important probe of gluon saturation. In an earlier work we studied this process in the Color Glass Condensate framework and showed that using the Glauber approach to extrapolate the dipole cross section of a proton to a nucleus leads to results closer to experimental data than previous calculations in this framework. Here we investigate the centrality dependence of the nuclear suppression in this model and show a comparison of our results with recent LHC data.