$J/\psi$ and $D^0$ production in $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 68.5 GeV PbNe collisions

TL;DR

This paper reports the first measurement of $J/$ and $D^0$ meson production in PbNe collisions at 68.5 GeV, comparing results with $p$Ne data to study nuclear effects and collision centrality dependence.

Contribution

It provides novel experimental data on heavy meson production in fixed-target PbNe collisions at this energy, expanding understanding of quarkonium suppression and charm production in nuclear environments.

Findings

No significant difference in $J/$ suppression between $p$Ne and peripheral PbNe collisions.

Similar $J/$ suppression trend observed in central PbNe collisions.

Production cross-section ratios studied as functions of rapidity, transverse momentum, and centrality.

Abstract

The first measurement of $J/\psi$ and $D^0$ production in PbNe collisions by the LHCb experiment in its fixed-target configuration is reported. The production of $J/\psi$ and $D^0$ mesons is studied with a beam of lead ions with an energy of 2.5 TeV per nucleon colliding on gaseous neon targets at rest, corresponding to a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 68.5 GeV. The $J/\psi/D^0$ production cross-section ratio is studied as a function of rapidity, transverse momentum and collision centrality. These data are compared with measurements from $p$Ne collisions at the same energy and show no difference in the observed $J/\psi$ suppresion trend when comparing $p$Ne and PbNe peripheral collisions with PbNe central collisions.