Measurement of the forward η meson production rate in p-p collisions at $$ \sqrt{\textrm{s}} $$ = 13 TeV with the LHCf-Arm2 detector

• Published in: The journal of high energy physics Vol. 2023; no. 10
• Main Authors: Adriani, O., Berti, E., Betti, P., Bonechi, L., Bongi, M., D’Alessandro, R., Detti, S., Hagenauer, M., Itow, Y., Kasahara, K., Kitagami, Y., Kondo, M., Matsubara, Y., Menjo, H., Muraki, Y., Ohashi, K., Papini, P., Piparo, G., Ricciarini, S., Sako, T., Sakurai, N., Scaringella, M., Shimizu, Y., Tamura, T., Tiberio, A., Torii, S., Tricomi, A., Turner, W. C., Yoshida, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer 27-10-2023
• Subjects: High Energy Physics - Experiment; Physics; cosmic radiation, UHE; LHC-F; p p, scattering; inclusive production; interaction, model; meson, production; TeV; GeV; quark; CERN LHC Coll; showers, atmosphere; air
• ISSN: 1029-8479; 1126-6708; 1029-8479
• DOI: 10.1007/JHEP10(2023)169

A
bstract
The forward
η
mesons production has been observed by the Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment in proton-proton collision at
$$ \sqrt{s} $$
s
= 13 TeV. This paper presents the measurement of the inclusive production rate of
η
in
p
T
<
1
.
1 GeV/c, expressed as a function of the Feynman-
x
variable. These results are compared with the predictions of several hadronic interaction models commonly used for the modelling of the air showers produced by ultra-high energy cosmic rays. This is both the first measurement of
η
mesons from LHCf and the first time a particle containing strange quarks has been observed in the forward region for high-energy collisions. These results will provide a powerful constraint on hadronic interaction models for the purpose of improving the understanding of the processes underlying the air showers produced in the Earth’s atmosphere by ultra-energetic cosmic rays.