Nuclear Modification Factor of Neutral Pions in the Forward and Backward Regions in p-Pb Collisions

作者：Aaij, R.; Abdelmotteleb, A. S. W.; Beteta, C. Abellan; Abudinen, F.; Ackernley, T.; Adeva, B.; Adinolfi, M.; Adlarson, P.; Afsharnia, H.; Agapopoulou, C.; Aidala, C. A.; Ajaltouni, Z.; Akar, S.; Akiba, K.; Albrecht, J.; Alessio, F.; Alexander, M.; Alfonso Albero, A.; Aliouche, Z.; Cartelle, P. Alvarez; Amalric, R.; Amato, S.; Amey, J. L.; Amhis, Y.; An, L.; Anderlini, L.; Andersson, M.; Andreianov, A.; Andreotti, M.; Andreou, D.; Ao, D.; Archilli, F.; Artamonov, A.; Artuso, M.; Aslanides, E.

来源：Physical Review Letters, 2023, 131(4): 042302.

DOI：10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.042302

• TRANSVERSE-MOMENTUM SPECTRA
• SIDE ANGULAR-CORRELATIONS
• PROTON-LEAD COLLISIONS
• LONG-RANGE
• NEAR-SIDE
• PPB COLLISIONS

The nuclear modification factor of neutral pions is measured in proton-lead collisions collected at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon of 8.16 TeV with the LHCb detector. The p(0) production cross section is measured differentially in transverse momentum (p(T)) for 1.5 < p(T) < 10.0 GeV and in center-of-mass pseudorapidity (?(c.m.)) regions 2.5 < ?(c.m.) < 3.5 (forward) and -4.0 < ?(c.m.) < -3.0 (backward) defined relative to the proton beam direction. The forward measurement shows a sizable suppression of p(0) production, while the backward measurement shows the first evidence of p(0) enhancement in proton-lead collisions at the LHC. Together, these measurements provide precise constraints on models of nuclear structure and particle production in high-energy nuclear collisions.