Probing short-range correlations in the deuteron via incoherent diffractive $J/\psi$ production with spectator tagging at the EIC

TL;DR

This paper explores how the future Electron-Ion-Collider can be used to study short-range correlations in the deuteron through incoherent diffractive J/psi production, revealing insights into nuclear forces and QCD effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates the potential of EIC measurements of incoherent J/psi production with spectator tagging to probe short-range nuclear correlations in the deuteron.

Findings

Sensitivity of observables to high nucleon momentum

Detector and luminosity requirements for SRC studies

Feasibility of accessing deuteron wavefunction via spectator nucleons

Abstract

Understanding the role of Quantum Chromodynamics in generating nuclear forces is important for uncovering the mechanism of short-ranged nuclear interactions and their manifestation in short range correlations (SRC). The future Electron-Ion-Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US will provide an unprecedented opportunity to systematically investigate the underlying physics of SRC for energies and kinematic regions that are otherwise impossible to reach. We study SRCs in electron-deuteron scattering events using the Monte Carlo event generator BeAGLE. Specifically, we investigate the sensitivity of observables to high internal nucleon momentum in incoherent diffractive $J/\psi$ vector meson production. In a plane wave impulse approximation, the initial state deuteron wavefunction can be accessed directly from the four-momentum of the spectator nucleon. We use realistic physics simulations and far-forward detector simulations of the EIC to fully reveal the physics potential of this exclusive process. In particular, we provide the luminosity and detector requirements necessary to study SRCs in the deuteron at an EIC.