Exclusive $Z^0$ production in $ep$ and $eA$ collisions at high energies

TL;DR

This paper applies the $k_{ot}$-factorization formalism to predict exclusive $Z^0$ boson production in high-energy $ep$, $eA$, $pp$, and $AA$ collisions, including nuclear effects and theoretical uncertainties.

Contribution

It extends the $k_{ot}$-factorization approach to exclusive $Z^0$ production across various collision types and assesses nuclear effects and model uncertainties.

Findings

Predictions for $Z^0$ production at future colliders like LHeC, HE-LHeC, and FCC.

Quantification of theoretical uncertainties from different unintegrated gluon models.

Analysis of nuclear effects in heavy and light ion collisions.

Abstract

In this work the $k_{\perp}$-factorization formalism is applied to compute the exclusive $Z^0$ boson photoproduction in $ep$ and $eA$ collisions. The study is also extended to $pp$ and $AA$ processes. The nuclear effects are investigated considering heavy and light ions. Analytical models for the unintegrated gluon distribution are taken into account and the corresponding theoretical uncertainty is quantified. 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, ultra-peripheral heavy ion collisions at future runs of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and at the FCC (hadron-hadron mode) are also considered.