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

Author:

Giuseppe Piparo, Oscar Adriani, Eugenio Berti, Pietro Betti, Lorenzo Bonechi, Massimo Bongi, Raffaello D'Alessandro, Sebastiano Detti, Maurice Haguenauer, Yoshitaka Itow, Katsuaki Kasahara, Yuga Kitagami, Moe Kondo, Yutaka Matsubara, Hiroaki Menjo, Yasushi Muraki, Ken Ohashi, Paolo Papini, Sergio Ricciarini, Takashi Sako, Nobuyuki Sakurai, Monica Scaringella, Yuki Shimizu, Tadashi Tamura, Alessio Tiberio, Shoji Torii, Alessia Tricomi, William C. Turner, Kenji Yoshida

Keyword:

High Energy Physics - Experiment, High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex)

journal:

CERN-EP-2023-076J. High Energ. Phys. 2023, 169 (2023)

date:

2023-05-10 16:00:00

Abstract

The forward $\eta$ mesons production has been observed by the Large Hadron Collider forward (LHCf) experiment in proton-proton collision at $\sqrt{s}$=13 TeV. This paper presents the measurement of the inclusive production rate of $\eta$ 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 $\eta$ 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.

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