Investigating the inclusive transverse spectra in high-energy $pp$ collisions in the context of geometric scaling framework

TL;DR

This paper investigates geometric scaling in high-energy proton-proton collisions, proposing a phenomenological model for gluon distributions that captures both saturated and dilute QCD regimes, and applies it to compute average transverse momentum and rapidity distributions.

Contribution

It introduces a new phenomenological parameterization of the unintegrated gluon distribution within the geometric scaling framework, bridging soft and hard QCD physics in $pp$ collisions.

Findings

The model reproduces the differential cross section features in saturated and dilute regimes.

Extension of the model to soft physics quantities is demonstrated.

Computed average $p_T$ and rapidity distributions align with expected high-energy collision behavior.

Abstract

The presence of geometric scaling within the $p_T$ spectra of produced hadrons at high energy $pp$ collisions using small-$x$ $k_T$-factorization is investigated. It is proposed a phenomenological parameterization for the unintegrated gluon distribution in the scaling range which reproduces the features of the differential cross section both in the saturated and dilute perturbative QCD regimes. As the saturation scale acts as an effective regulator of the infrared region (IR), the extension of the model to quantities usually associated to soft physics is studied. The approach is applied to compute the average $p_T$ and the rapidity distribution of produced gluons at high energies.