Tagging Efficiency Study of Incoherent Diffractive Vector Meson Production at the Second Interaction Region at the Electron-Ion Collider

TL;DR

This study assesses how a second interaction region at the Electron-Ion Collider can improve detection and analysis of incoherent diffractive vector meson production, enhancing the understanding of nucleon and nuclear structure.

Contribution

It evaluates the potential of a second interaction region to enhance tagging, vetoing, and measurement capabilities for diffractive physics at the EIC.

Findings

Improved forward detector acceptance near zero degrees.

Enhanced vetoing capabilities for incoherent events.

Better access to coherent diffractive cross-sections.

Abstract

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) is an upcoming accelerator facility aimed at exploring the properties of quarks and gluons in nucleons and nuclei, shedding light on their structure and dynamics. The inaugural experimental apparatus, ePIC (electron-Proton and Ion Collider), is designed as a general purpose detector to address the NAS/NSAC physics program at the EIC. The wider EIC community is strongly supporting a second interaction region and associated second detector to enhance the full science program. In this study, we evaluate how the second interaction region and detector can be complementary to ePIC. The pre-conceptual layout of an interaction region for the second detector offers a secondary focus that provides better forward detector acceptance at scattering angles near $\theta \sim 0$~mrad, which can specifically enhance the exclusive, tagging, and diffractive physics program. This article presents an analysis of a tagging program using the second interaction region layout with incoherent diffractive vector meson production. The potential for the second interaction region to provide improved vetoing capabilities for incoherent events to elucidate the coherent diffractive cross-section is evaluated. The capability to access the coherent diffractive cross-section is of prime importance for studying the spatial imaging of nucleons and nuclei.