Holographic $J/\psi$ production near threshold and the proton mass problem

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the near-threshold production of $J/ar{J}$ in electron-proton scattering can reveal insights into the proton mass origin through the QCD trace anomaly, using gauge/string duality.

Contribution

It introduces a holographic approach to study $J/ar{J}$ photoproduction and shows the $t$-dependence of the differential cross section as a probe of the trace anomaly.

Findings

The $t$-dependence of $d\sigma/dt$ is sensitive to the trace anomaly.

Holographic modeling provides new insights into proton mass origin.

Near-threshold $J/\psi$ production can serve as a probe for QCD trace anomaly.

Abstract

It has been suggested that the production of a heavy quarkonium near threshold in electron-proton scattering can shed light on the origin of the proton mass via the QCD trace anomaly. We study the photoproduction of $J/\psi$ off the proton using gauge/string duality and demonstrate that the $t$-dependence of the differential cross section $d\sigma/dt$ at small-$t$ is a sensitive probe of the trace anomaly.