Measurement of charged-hadron distributions in heavy-flavor jets in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV

TL;DR

This paper reports measurements of charged-hadron distributions within heavy-flavor jets in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV, comparing them to light-quark jets to understand heavy-quark hadronization mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data on heavy-flavor jet hadronization, highlighting differences from light-quark jets and constraining fragmentation models.

Findings

Differences in distributions align with the dead-cone effect.

Results support hard fragmentation of heavy-flavor hadrons.

Data offers constraints for heavy-flavor fragmentation functions.

Abstract

Charged-hadron distributions in heavy-flavor jets are measured in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV collected by the LHCb experiment. Distributions of the longitudinal momentum fraction, transverse momentum, and radial profile of charged hadrons are measured separately in beauty and charm jets. The distributions are compared to those previously measured by the LHCb collaboration in jets produced back-to-back with a $Z$ boson, which in the forward region are primarily light-quark-initiated, to compare the hadronization mechanisms of heavy and light quarks. The observed differences between the heavy- and light-jet distributions are consistent with the heavy-quark dynamics expected to arise from the dead-cone effect, as well as with a hard fragmentation of the heavy-flavor hadron as previously measured in single-hadron fragmentation functions. This measurement provides additional constraints for the extraction of collinear and transverse-momentum-dependent heavy-flavor fragmentation functions and offers another approach to probing the mechanisms that govern heavy-flavor hadronization.