Prompt and nonprompt $\ddot{I}ˆ(2S)$ production in $p$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=8.16$ TeV

Abstract

The production of $\ddot{I}ˆ(2S)$ mesons in proton-lead collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=8.16$ TeV is studied with the LHCb detector using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 nb${}^{-1}$. The prompt and nonprompt $\ddot{I}ˆ(2S)$ production cross-sections and the ratio of the $\ddot{I}ˆ(2S)$ to $J/\ddot{I}ˆ$ cross-section are measured as a function of the meson transverse momentum and rapidity in the nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass frame, together with forward-to-backward ratios and nuclear modification factors. The production of prompt $\ddot{I}ˆ(2S)$ is observed to be more suppressed compared to $pp$ collisions than the prompt $J/\ddot{I}ˆ$ production, while the nonprompt productions have similar suppression factors.

All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2023-024.html (LHCb public pages)