Exclusive photoproduction of $B_{c}^{\pm}$ and bottomonia pairs

TL;DR

This paper investigates the exclusive photoproduction of heavy quarkonia pairs, including $B_c$ mesons and bottomonia, using the Color Glass Condensate approach to estimate cross-sections relevant for future collider experiments.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed theoretical analysis of $B_c$ meson pair production mechanisms and estimates their cross-sections in upcoming collider kinematics.

Findings

$J/\psi\,\eta_c$ and $B_c^+ B_c^-$ pairs are promising channels for experimental studies.

Production cross-sections are estimated for Electron-Proton colliders and LHC ultraperipheral collisions.

The mechanisms allow for internal quantum number variations in $B_c$ production.

Abstract

In this paper we analyze the photoproduction of heavy quarkonia pairs which include $b$-quarks, such as $B_{c}^{+}B_{c}^{-}$-mesons or charmonium-bottomonium pairs. Compared to charmonia pair production, these channels get contributions only from some subsets of diagrams, and thus allow for a better theoretical understanding of different production mechanisms. In contrast to the production of hidden-flavor quarkonia, for the production of $B_{c}$-meson pairs there are no restrictions on internal quantum numbers in the suggested mechanisms. Using the Color Glass Condensate approach, we estimated numerically the production cross-sections in the kinematics of the forthcoming Electron-Proton collider and in the kinematics of ultraperipheral collisions at LHC. We found that the production of $J/\psi\,\eta_{c}$ and $B_{c}^{+}B_{c}^{-}$ meson pairs are the most promising channels for studies of quarkonia pair production.