NLO computation of diffractive di-hadron production in a saturation framework

TL;DR

This paper presents a next-to-leading order (NLO) calculation of diffractive di-hadron production cross-sections in a saturation framework, applicable to both photoproduction and leptoproduction at high energies.

Contribution

It introduces a hybrid formalism combining collinear and small-x factorization to derive finite NLO cross-sections for diffractive di-hadron production, explicitly showing divergence cancellations.

Findings

Finite NLO differential cross-sections derived.

Applicable to both photoproduction and leptoproduction.

Results usable at EIC and LHC for saturation studies.

Abstract

The cross-sections of diffractive double hadron photo- or electroproduction with large $p_T$, on a nucleon or a nucleus, are calculated to NLO accuracy. A hybrid formalism mixing collinear factorization and high energy small-$x$ factorization, more precisely the shockwave formalism for the latter, is used to derive the results. The cancellation of divergences is explicitly shown, and the finite parts of the NLO differential cross-sections are found. We work in arbitrary kinematics such that both photoproduction and leptoproduction are considered. The results are therefore usable, to detect saturation effects, at both the future EIC or already at LHC, using Ultra Peripheral Collisions.