Physics with high-luminosity proton-nucleus collisions at the LHC

Abstract

The physics case for the operation of high-luminosity proton-nucleus ($pA$) collisions during Run 3 and 4 at the LHC is reviewed. The collection of $\mathcal{O}$(1-10 pb${}^{-1}$) of proton-lead ($p$Pb) collisions at the LHC will provide unique physics opportunities in a broad range of topics including proton and nuclear parton distribution functions (PDFs and nPDFs), generalised parton distributions (GPDs), transverse momentum dependent PDFs (TMDs), low-$x$ QCD and parton saturation, hadron spectroscopy, baseline studies for quark-gluon plasma and parton collectivity, double and triple parton scatterings (DPS/TPS), photon-photon collisions, and physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM); which are not otherwise as clearly accessible by exploiting data from any other colliding system at the LHC. This report summarises the accelerator aspects of high-luminosity $pA$ operation at the LHC, as well as each of the physics topics outlined above, including the relevant experimental measurements that motivate -- much -- larger $pA$ datasets.

26 pages inc. refs, 1 figure, 3 tables. Slightly expanded version of a contribution submitted for the 2025 European Strategy for Particle Physics

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• Observation of double J/$\psi$ meson production in pPb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 8.16 TeV
• Vector meson photoproduction in UPCs with FoCal
• Holography of Broken U(1) Symmetry
• Isolating the Odderon in central production in high energy $pA$ and $AA$ collisions
• First polarisation measurement of coherently photoproduced J/$\psi$ in ultra-peripheral Pb$-$Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV