Exclusive dilepton production via timelike Compton scattering in heavy ion collisions

TL;DR

This paper applies the $k_T$-factorization formalism to study exclusive dilepton production via timelike Compton scattering in various high-energy collision systems, exploring nuclear effects and potential experimental observations.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of TCS-induced dilepton production across different collision types using $k_T$-factorization, including nuclear effects and predictions for future colliders.

Findings

Cross sections depend on invariant mass and rapidity distributions.

Nuclear effects vary with ion type and collision system.

Predictions for future collider experiments are provided.

Abstract

In the present work, $k_T$-factorization formalism is applied to compute the exclusive dilepton production by timelike Compton scattering (TCS) in $eA$, $pA$ and $AA$ collisions. The nuclear effects are investigated considering heavy and light ions. The production cross section in terms of invariant mass and rapidity distribution of the lepton pair is shown. The analysis is done for electron-ion collisions at the Large Hadron-Electron Collider (LHeC), its high-energy upgrade (HE-LHeC) and at the Future Circular Collider (FCC) in lepton-hadron mode. Additionally, ultraperipheral heavy ion collisions at future runs of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and at the FCC (hadron-hadron mode) are also considered.