Search

In this work, we investigate the impact of the $L_\mu - L_\tau$ model, which predicts a new massive gauge boson, $Z'$, on astrophysical neutrino events at the IceCube Observatory. This new gauge boson couples with leptons from the second and third families, and would break the power law of the astrophysical neutrino flux due to the interaction of this flux with the cosmic neutrino background. We derive the sensitivity of the IceCube to this model considering the HESE data from 12 years of observation by assuming different assumptions for the redshift distributions of astrophysical neutrino sources, mass ordering, and sum of neutrino masses. Our results indicate that the current IceCube data is able to probe small coupling and masses of the order of some few MeV, with the covered parameter space being larger if a distribution of neutrino sources is described by the star formation rate model. In addition, we demonstrate that the IceCube-Gen2 will cover a large region of the parameter space and will allow us to improve our understanding of the $L_\mu - L_\tau$ model., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 1 table

An exploratory study of the exclusive toponium production in $pp$, $pPb$ and $PbPb$ collisions at the center - of - mass energies of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Future Circular Collider (FCC) is performed. Assuming that the toponium is a pseudoscalar $t\bar{t}$ bound state, we consider its production by photon and gluon - induced interactions. Results for the total cross - sections and associated rapidity distributions are presented, and the observability of the toponium in exclusive processes is discussed., Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables

The possibility of searching for long-lived axion-like particles (ALPs) decaying into photons is investigated in ultraperipheral $PbPb$ collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). We propose a search strategy for low mass ALPs using the LHCb and ALICE experiments. The ALP identification is performed by requiring the decay vertex be reconstructed outside the region where a primary vertex is expected, which strongly suppress the contribution associated with the decay of light mesons. We also use the fact that a fraction of the photons convert into electron-positron pairs, allowing the reconstruction of the particle decay position. We present the predictions for the pseudo - rapidity and transverse momentum distributions of the ALPs and photons. Moreover, predictions for the fiducial cross-sections, derived considering the characteristics of the ALICE and LHCb detectors, are presented for different values of the ALP mass and the ALP - photon coupling., Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures

Axion-like particles (ALP) are promising candidates to comprise all the dark matter in the universe. We investigate the ALP couplings to photons and electrons via astrophysical measurements through the search for very-high-energy gamma rays arising from high-energy cosmic-ray scattering off ALP populating the halo of the Milky Way. We show that gamma-ray signals from ALP couplings to photons and electrons via inverse Primakoff and Compton processes respectively, can be probed by very-high-energy ($\gtrsim$100 GeV) gamma-ray ground-based observatories, providing an alternative and complementary avenue to probe ALP couplings in the eV mass range. Sensitivities of current and near-future ground-based gamma-ray observatories improves upon one order of magnitude the current constraints from gamma-ray satellite experiments for the ALP-photon couplings in the region of masses below 10$^{-9}$ GeV. Their sensitivities reached on the ALP-electron couplings allow probing masses below 10$^{-8}$ GeV, which are lower than the masses probed in gamma-ray satellite experiments., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in PRD

It is known that the proton is overpopulated by gluons and is characterized as a highly dense medium at high collision energies. From this, the formation of a new state of matter called Color Glass Condensate (CGC) is expected, and an open question is whether the nonlinear effects predicted by this state are identifiable at the LHC. The multiplicity of particles produced in a hadronic collision presents as a means to adequately investigate this problem. Currently, the description of the available data for different multiplicity regimes remains a challenge. Even though different experimental collaborations have identified that the production of certain final states, in $pp$ collisions, present a modification in the behavior of high multiplicity events in relation to the case of minimum bias we still lack a way to identify the nature of those high multiplicity events: are those driven by initial-state effects, final-state effects or a mix of both? We argue that a analyzing different particle production process that can be described CGC framework, in particular, isolated photon production which is not sensitive to final-state effects, may provide a path forward in answering this question., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Contribution to the Proceedings of the Diffraction and Low-$x$ 2024, Palermo, Italy, September 8-14, 2024

The impact of Lorentz violating (LV) terms on the exclusive $e^+e^-$ production in ultraperipheral heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is investigated, considering vectorial and axial couplings. Results for the differential and total cross-sections are presented, and the sensitivity to a time-like coupling is estimated. Our results indicate that this process can improve the current upper bounds on the LV terms., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

The cross-section for the associated production of a jet with an electroweak gauge boson ($G = W^{\pm}, Z^0, \gamma$) at forward rapidities in $pp$ and $pA$ collisions is derived within the color - dipole $S$ - matrix framework. We present the full expressions for the differential cross-section of the $q p \rightarrow G q X$ process in the transverse momentum space, considering the longitudinal and transverse polarizations of the gauge boson. We demonstrate that the final formulae can be expressed in terms of the unintegrated gluon distribution and reproduce previous results for the associated jet + $\gamma$ and jet + $Z^0$ production, derived using other frameworks. Moreover, we derive the back - to - back correlation limit of the spectra and show that it can be expressed in terms of the unpolarized and linearly polarized transverse momentum gluon distributions. Our results improve the description of the inclusive jet plus color neutral particle production at forward rapidities, not far from the proton fragmentation region, in $pp$ or $pA$ collisions, and are the main ingredient to study the impact of nonlinear QCD effects in two - particle correlations., Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2405.10265

The study of neutrino physics at the Large Hadron Collider is already a reality, and a broad neutrino physics program is expected to be developed in forthcoming years at the Forward Physics Facility (FPF). In particular, the neutrino trident scattering process, which is a rare Standard Model process, is expected to be observed for the first time with a statistical significance of $5\sigma$ using the FASER$\nu$2 detector. Such a perspective motivates the investigation of the impact of New Physics on the predictions for the corresponding number of events. In this letter, we consider the $L_\mu - L_\tau$ model, which predicts an additional massive neutral gauge boson, $Z'$, that couples to neutrino and charged leptons of the second and third families, and estimate the production of a dimuon system in the neutrino trident scattering at the FASER$\nu$2 assuming different models for the incoming neutrino flux. We derive the associated sensitivity and demonstrate that a future measurement of the dimuons produced in neutrino trident events at the FPF will extend the coverage of the parameter space in comparison to previous experiments., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures

The particle production in photon-photon ($\gamma \gamma$) interactions present in electron-ion collisions is investigated. We present calculations for the total cross sections and event rates related to the production of light mesons [$\eta, \eta^\prime, f_0$ and $f_2$], charmonium [$\eta_c$ and $\chi_c$] and charmoniumlike [$X(3915), X(3940), X(4140)$ and $X(6900)$] states, considering the EIC, EicC, LHeC and FCC-eh energies. Our predictions demonstrate that experimental studies of these processes are feasible and useful to constrain the properties of light mesons and quarkonium states and shed some light on the configuration of the considered charmoniumlike states., Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables

Recent studies have demonstrated that the tau produced in charged current neutrino deeply inelastic interactions at the GeV -- TeV neutrino energy range is not fully polarized. In this paper we investigate the impact of the tau polarization on the pions generated in its decay. In particular, we consider tau neutrino - tungsten interactions at the LHC energies and estimate the associated pion momentum, energy and angular distributions. The contribution of the $F_5$ is also investigated. Our results indicate that the pion properties are sensitive to the tau polarization state as well as to the magnitude of $F_5$., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review D

We investigate the behavior of the dense and cold (normalized) QCD trace anomaly, $\Delta$, in the interior of twin neutron stars (obtained from several sets of equations of state in agreement with modern compact-star and multimessenger data) satisfying static and dynamic stability conditions. We scan the formed twin-star parameter space in order to look for effects caused by the presence of a strong first-order phase transition connecting hadron and quark phases by means of a Maxwell construction. We found robustly that $\Delta$ suffers an abrupt decrease around the transition point, even reaching large negative values ($\Delta\simeq-0.35$), in marked contrast to current studies pointing out a smooth behavior with $\Delta\gtrsim 0$ at all densities. Besides, we characterize the behavior of {the recently defined} conformal factor, $d_{c}$, in our four categories of twin stars for which we perform comparisons with theoretical constraints put, e.g. by Bayesian studies sometimes adjusted to agree with perturbative QCD at high densities. These analyses allow us to hypothesize modifications in the strong QCD coupling in dense nuclear matter with a strong thermodynamic discontinuity., Comment: v2: 21 pages, 10 figures. Some technical details and minor clarifications were added. It matches the PRD version

Tracks events at the IceCube Observatory are characterized by an energetic muon crossing several kilometers before decaying. Such muons are dominantly produced in charged current (CC) muon neutrino - hadron interactions. However, muons are also produced through the $W$ - boson production and in the decay of tau leptons and heavy mesons created in neutral and charged current interactions induced by all neutrino flavors. In this paper, we investigate the contribution of these subleading channels to events characterized as tracks at the IceCube. Our results indicate that these channels correspond to a non - negligible fraction of the HESE track events. In addition, we show that its contributions are concentrated in muons that are less energetic than those arising from muonic neutrino CC interactions for the same visible energies of the process. Finally, we investigate the impact of these additional channels on the description of the astrophysical neutrino flux, and we find that the inclusion of these subleading processes are important in determining the parameters of the astrophysical neutrino flux., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

The neutrino trident scattering process in neutrino - tungsten interactions at the LHC energy regime is investigated, and the cross-sections for different leptonic final states in coherent and incoherent interactions are estimated. Furthermore, the associated number of eventsat FASER$\nu$2 detector is estimated considering different predictions for the flux of incident neutrinos on the detector, based on distinct hadronic models for the particle production in $pp$ collisions at ultra-forward rapidities. Our results indicate that the observation of the neutrino trident process is, in principle, feasible at the Forward Physics Facility., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Recent results indicate that charm quarks are intrinsic components of the proton wave function, and that the charm and anticharm distributions for a given value of the Bjorken - $x$ variable can be different. In this paper, we will investigate the impact of this asymmetric intrinsic charm on the production of $D^0$ and ${\bar D}^0$ mesons for fixed target $p \!+ ^{20}\!\!Ne$ collisions at the LHCb. In our calculations, we include the contribution of the gluon-gluon fusion, gluon - charm and recombination processes and assume distinct models for the treatment of the intrinsic charm component. We demonstrate that the presence of an intrinsic charm improves the description of the current data for the rapidity and transverse momentum distributions of $D$ mesons. However, such models are not able to describe the LHCb data for the $D^0$-${\bar D}^0$ asymmetry at large transverse momentum, which point out that the description of the intrinsic charm needs to be improved and/or new effects should be taken into account in the production of heavy mesons at forward rapidities in fixed - target collisions., Comment: 23 pages, 11 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2206.02750

The cross-section for the production of an electroweak gauge boson ($G = W^{\pm}, Z^0, \gamma$) at forward rapidities in $pp$ collisions is derived within the color - dipole $S$ - matrix framework. We present the full expressions for the differential cross-section of the $q p \rightarrow G X$ process in the impact parameter and transverse momentum spaces, considering the longitudinal and transverse polarizations of the gauge boson. The particular cases associated with the Drell - Yan process and real photon production are discussed. We demonstrate that the final formulae are expressed in terms of the dipole - proton cross-section or the unintegrated gluon distribution, and can be used to estimate the impact of the saturation effects in the gauge boson production at the LHC and future colliders., Comment: 18 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

Considering that the study of neutrino-nucleus interactions with incident neutrino energy ranges in the GeV-TeV range is feasible at the Large Hadron Collider, we investigate in this paper the degree of polarization ${\cal{P}}$ of the (anti) tau lepton produced in (anti) tau neutrino - tungsten interactions. We estimate the differential cross-sections and the longitudinal and transverse components of the tau lepton polarization as a function of the tau lepton energy and distinct values of the scattering angle, assuming different values for the energy of the incoming (anti) tau neutrino. Different models for the treatment of the nuclear effects in the parton distribution functions are assumed as input in the calculations. Our results indicate that $ {\cal{P}} < 1$ for the neutrino energies reached at the LHC and are almost insensitive to the nuclear effects., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures

The impact of the non-linear effects in the QCD dynamics on the observables is directly related to the magnitude of the saturation scale $Q_s$, which is predicted to increase with the energy, rapidity and multiplicity. In this paper, we investigate the $D^0$ meson production in $pp$ collisions at forward rapidities and/or high multiplicities considering the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) formalism and the solutions of the running coupling Balitsky - Kovchegov (BK) equation. The contributions of gluon - and charm - initiated processes are taken into account, and a comparison with the current LHCb data is performed. The impact of an intrinsic charm component in the proton's wave function is also estimated. Predictions for the self-normalized yields of $D^0$ mesons as a function of the multiplicity of coproduced charged hadrons are presented, considering $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV and different values of the meson rapidity. A comparison with the predictions for the kaon and isolated photon production is performed. Our results indicate that a future experimental analysis of the $D^0$ meson production at forward rapidities and high multiplicities can be useful to probe the CGC formalism and to disentangle the contribution of initial - and final - state effects., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures

In this work we perform an exploratory study of the photoproduction of singlet QED bound states $(l^-l^+)_S$ in electron - ion collisions at the EicC, EIC and LHeC energies. The total cross - sections, event rates per year and rapidity distributions associated with the parapositronium, paramuonium and paratauonium production are estimated. Moreover, we consider the decay of these states in a two - photon system and implement kinematical cuts on the rapidities and energies of the photons in the final state. We demonstrate the paramuonium can, in principle, be observed for the first time in all these colliders and that the EIC is a potential collider to discover the paratauonium state., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables

The coherent production of vector mesons in photon - hadron interactions is considered one of the most promising observables to probe the QCD dynamics at high energies and the transverse spatial distribution of the gluons in the hadron wave function. In this paper, we perform an exploratory study about the dependence of the transverse momentum distributions, $d\sigma/dt$, on the model assumed for the proton density profile. We consider a set of non-Gaussian profiles and include them in the forward dipole - proton scattering amplitude associated with the IP-sat model. We demonstrate that the predictions for $d\sigma/dt$ are similar in the HERA kinematical range, but are very distinct for values of $t$ that will be probed in future colliders. In particular, the presence of diffractive dips in the $t$-distributions associated with the production of $J/\Psi$ and $\rho$ mesons is strongly dependent on the model assumed for the density profile. Similar conclusions are also derived when the non-linear effects on the dipole - target interaction are disregarded. Our results indicate that a future study of the coherent vector meson production at large - $t$ will be useful to constrain the spatial distribution of gluons within the proton., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Version to be published in European Physical Journal C

The flux of atmospheric and astrophysical neutrinos measured in UHE neutrino detectors is strongly dependent on the description of the propagation and absorption of the neutrinos during the passage through Earth to the detector. In particular, the attenuation of the incident neutrino flux depends on the details of the matter structure between the source and the detector. In this paper, we will investigate the impact of different descriptions for the density profile of Earth on the transmission coefficient, defined as the ratio between the flux measured in the detector and the incoming neutrino flux. We will consider five different models for the Earth's density profile and estimate how these different models modify the target column density and transmission coefficients for different flavors. The results are derived by solving the cascade equations taking into account the NC interactions and tau regeneration. A comparison with approximated solutions is also presented. Our results indicated that the predictions are sensitive to the model considered for the density profile, with the simplified three layer model providing a satisfactory description when compared with the PREM results., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure, 1 table

Huge efforts have been deployed to detect dark matter (DM) in the GeV-TeV mass range involving various detection techniques, and led to strong constraints in the available parameter space. We compute here the sensitivity to sub-GeV DM that can be probed from the inevitable cosmic-ray scattering onto DM particles populating the Milky Way halo. Inelastic scattering of energetic cosmic rays off DM would produce high-energy gamma rays in the final state, providing a new avenue to probe the poorly-constrained so far sub-GeV dark matter mass range. In this work we derive sensitivity forecasts for the inelastic cosmic-ray proton - DM cross section for current and future very-high-energy gamma-ray observatories such as H.E.S.S., LHAASO, CTA and SWGO in the 100 eV to 100 MeV mass range. These inelastic cross section constraints are converted to the elastic proton - DM cross section to highlight further complementarity with cosmological, collider and direct detection searches. The sensitivity computed at 95\% confidence level on the elastic cross section reaches $\sim$2$\times$ 10$^{-32}$ cm$^2$ for a 100 keV DM mass for H.E.S.S.-like and $\sim$7$\times$ 10$^{-34}$ cm$^2$ for a $\sim$1 keV DM mass for LHAASO. The sensitivity prospects for CTA and a strawman SWGO model reach $\sim$6$\times$ 10$^{-34}$ cm$^2$ and $\sim$4$\times$ 10$^{-35}$ cm$^2$, for DM masses of 10 keV and 1 keV, respectively. The sensitivity reach of the gamma-ray observatories considered here enables to probe an uncharted region of the DM mass - cross section parameter space., Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in JCAP

The production of $B$ mesons at forward rapidities is strongly sensitive to the behavior of the gluon and bottom distribution functions for small and large values of the Bjorken - $x$ variable. In this exploratory study, we estimate the cross - section for the $B^{\pm}$ meson production in the kinematic range probed by the LHCb detector and that will be analyzed by the future Forward Physics Facility (FPF) considering the hybrid formalism, the solution of the running coupling Balitsky - Kovchegov equation and distinct descriptions for the bottom distribution function. We assume an ansatz for the intrinsic bottom component in the proton wave function, and estimate its impact on the transverse momentum, rapidity and Feynman - $x$ distributions. Our results indicate that the presence of an intrinsic bottom strongly modifies the magnitude of the cross - section at ultra - forward rapidities ($y \ge 6$), which implies an enhancement of the $B^{\pm}$ production at the FPF. Possible implications on the prompt neutrino flux at ultra-high energies are also briefly discussed., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Version to be published in European Physical Journal C

The production of a single charged Higgs boson pair by photon - photon interactions in $pp$ collisions at the LHC is investigated in this exploratory study. We focus on the exclusive production, which is characterized by intact protons and two - rapidity gaps in the final state, and assume the type - I two - Higgs - doublet model, which still allows a light charged Higgs. Assuming the leptonic $H^{\pm}\rightarrow [\tau\nu_{\tau}]$ decay mode, we derive predictions for the transverse momentum, rapidity and invariant mass distributions of the $\tau^+ \tau^-$ pair for different values of the charged Higgs mass. The contributions of different background processes are also estimated. Our results indicate that the contribution of the exclusive $H^+ H^-$ production for the $[\tau^{+}\nu_{\tau}][\tau^{-} \nu_{\tau}]$ final state is non - negligible and can, in principle, be used to searching for a light charged Higgs., Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables

Opportunities for searches for axion-like particles (ALPs) coupling to photons in $\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^-$ collisions at the Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee) and International Linear Collider (ILC) are investigated. We perform a study of the photon-fusion production of ALPs decaying into two photons, $\mathrm{e}^+\mathrm{e}^- \overset{\gamma \gamma}{\longrightarrow} \mathrm{e}^{+}\;a(\gamma \gamma)\;\mathrm{e}^{-}$, over the light-by-light continuum background, for the planned FCC-ee and ILC center-of-mass energies and integrated luminosities. An analysis of the feasibility measurements is presented using parametrized simulations for two types of detectors. Upper limits at 95% confidence level (CL) on the cross section for ALP production, $\sigma(\gamma \gamma \to a \to \gamma \gamma)$, and on the ALP-photon coupling are obtained over the $m_a \approx 0.1$--1000 GeV ALP mass range, and compared to current and future collider searches. Production cross sections down to $\sigma(\gamma \gamma \to a \to \gamma \gamma) \approx 1$ fb (1 ab) will be probed at $m_a\approx 1$ (300) GeV, corresponding to constraints on the axion-photon coupling as low as $g_\mathrm{a\gamma \gamma} \approx 2\cdot10^{-3}$ TeV$^{-1}$., Comment: this version is published in PRD

In this letter we analyze the associated production of a vector meson with the bound - free $e^+e^-$ process in ultraperipheral $PbPb$ collisions through the double scattering mechanism for the energy of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Such process is characterized by the presence of a meson and a positron in the final state and by a forward hydrogen - like ion with a distinct electric charge. We present our predictions for the total cross sections and rapidity distributions considering the rapidity ranges covered by the ALICE and LHCb detectors, which indicate that a future experimental analysis of the $\phi + e^+$ and $J/\Psi + e^+$ final states is feasible., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2306.05519

The study of exclusive processes in ultraperipheral collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has allowed us to test several aspects of the Standard Model and to search for New Physics. In this letter, we investigate the possibility of using these processes to improve our understanding of the quarkonium production mechanism through the study of the exclusive $J/\Psi$ plus jet associate production in ultraperipheral $PbPb$ collisions. We estimate the transverse - momentum and rapidity distributions considering that the $\gamma \gamma \rightarrow J/\Psi + X$ ($X = \gamma, \, g$) subprocess is described by the Non - Relativistic QCD (NRQCD) formalism and present predictions for the rapidity ranges covered by central and forward detectors. The experimental separation of these events is discussed and the results indicate that a future experimental analysis is, in principle, feasible in future runs of the LHC and the Future Circular Collider (FCC)., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables

In this paper we analyze the associated production of a vector meson with a (pseudo)scalar bound state or a dimuon system in ultraperipheral $PbPb$ collisions through the double scattering mechanism for the energies of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Future Circular Collider (FCC). Our results complement previous studies for the double vector meson production. We present our predictions for the total cross sections and rapidity distributions considering the rapidity ranges covered by the ALICE and LHCb detectors, which indicate that a future experimental analysis of the $\phi + \eta_c$, $\phi + \mu^+ \mu^-$ and $J/\Psi + \mu^+ \mu^-$ final states is feasible., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2210.04861

One of the main goals of future electron-ion colliders is to improve our understanding of the structure of hadrons. In this letter, we study the exclusive $\eta_c$ production by $\gamma^{*} \gamma$ interactions in $eA$ collisions and demonstrate that future experimental analysis of this process can be used to improve the description of the $\eta_c$ transition form factor. The rapidity, transverse momentum and photon virtuality distributions are estimated considering the energy and target configurations expected to be present at the EIC, EicC and LHeC and assuming different predictions for the light-front wave function of the $\eta_c$ meson. Our results indicate that the electron-ion colliders can be considered an alternative to providing supplementary data to those obtained in $e^- e^+$ colliders., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures

We outline the physics opportunities provided by the Electron Ion Collider (EIC). These include the study of the parton structure of the nucleon and nuclei, the onset of gluon saturation, the production of jets and heavy flavor, hadron spectroscopy and tests of fundamental symmetries. We review the present status and future challenges in EIC theory that have to be addressed in order to realize this ambitious and impactful physics program, including how to engage a diverse and inclusive workforce. In order to address these many-fold challenges, we propose a coordinated effort involving theory groups with differing expertise is needed. We discuss the scientific goals and scope of such an EIC Theory Alliance., Comment: 44 pages, ReVTeX, White Paper on EIC Theory Alliance

The production of isolated photons in high multiplicity events is investigated considering the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) formalism. The associated cross-section for proton - proton collisions is estimated considering three distinct solutions of the Balitsky - Kovchegov (BK) equation and predictions for the normalized photon yield as a function of the multiplicities of co - produced charged particles are presented. We predict the increasing of the yield with the multiplicity, with the slope being smaller for larger rapidities. As the isolated photon production is not affected by the fragmentation process, a future experimental investigation of this process in current high energy hadronic colliders is ideal to test the treatment of high multiplicity events using the CGC formalism, previously applied only for the production of hadronic final states., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Improved version published in European Physical Journal A

The dynamical stability of strange-dwarf hybrid stars and strange planets, constituted by strange-quark-matter cores and dilute-nuclear-matter crusts, is revisited by analyzing the fundamental mode eigenfrequencies of the radial oscillation equations with boundary conditions for slow (rapid) conversions originating at the density-discontinuous interface characterizing extremely large (small) microscopic timescales compared to the oscillation periods. For the hadronic crust we used an analytic fit of the BPS results matched to the massless MIT bag model. For the rapid case, our calculations indicate that the zero mode is the so-called {\it reaction mode} whose frequency is a complex number, thus ruling out the existence of strange dwarfs (planets) in nature. On the other hand, slow conversions still provide a sizeable stability window which, interestingly, also reproduces the Glendenning-Kettner-Weber results. The robustness of our findings is demonstrated for different transition densities and using an equation of state from perturbative QCD for the ultra-dense core., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures. Version published in European Physical Journal A

In this paper we investigate the impact of the higher - twist effects, resummed by the non - linear approaches for the QCD dynamics, on the inclusive observables that will be measured in future electron - ion colliders. We assume a phenomenological model for the dipole - nucleus scattering amplitude which takes into account the non - linear corrections and estimate the contribution of the different twists for $F_2^A(x,Q^2)$, $F_L^A(x,Q^2)$ and $\partial F_2^A /\partial ln Q^2$ considering different values of the Bjorken - $x$ variable, photon virtuality $Q^2$ and atomic number $A$. A comparison with the full predictions is performed and the impact of the distinct twists is estimated. Our results indicate that a future analysis of the logarithmic $Q^2$ slope and longitudinal structure function will allow us to probe the presence of the non - linear effects on the QCD dynamics., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. Improved version published in EPJA

Collisions with Oxygen ions at the LHC opens the possibility of investigating the description of the QCD dynamics in an unexplored regime, complementary to those performed in $pp$, $pPb$ and $PbPb$ collisions. In this paper we estimate the exclusive $\rho$ and $J/\Psi$ photoproduction in ultraperipheral $pO$ and $OO$ collisions at the Large Hadron Collider using the color dipole formalism and considering distinct models for the dipole - target scattering amplitude and different approaches for the modelling of the vector meson wave function. We present our predictions for the rapidity and transverse momentum distributions, as well as for the total cross sections considering the rapidity ranges covered by the ALICE and LHCb detectors. Such results indicate that a future experimental analysis of these final states is feasible and that its study can be useful to improve our understanding of the QCD dynamics at high energies., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables. Improved and enlarged version to be published in Physical Review C

In this paper we analyze the associated $\phi$ and $J/\Psi$ photoproduction in ultraperipheral $PbPb$ collisions through the double scattering mechanism for the energies of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Future Circular Collider (FCC). Our results complement a previous analysis for the $\rho\rho$, $J/\Psi J/\Psi$ and $\rho J/\Psi$ production. We present our predictions for the total cross sections and rapidity distributions considering the rapidity ranges covered by the ALICE and LHCb detectors, which indicate that a future experimental analysis of $\phi J/\Psi$ final state is feasible. These results point out that the study of the double vector meson photoproduction in heavy ion collisions can be useful to constrain the double scattering mechanism and improve our understanding of the QCD dynamics at high energies., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Improved version published in EPJA

The description of the structure of proton is fundamental in order to describe the standard model processes at the LHC as well as for the searching of New Physics. Quantum fluctuations imply the presence of photons and leptons inside the proton, which admit a parton distribution function (PDF). Although the lepton PDFs are expected to be small, its presence opens new production mechanisms. In order to explore the lepton - induced processes at the LHC, a precise determination of the leptonic content of the proton is needed. In this paper we propose to constrain the content of charged leptons inside the proton through the study of the QED Compton scattering in ultraperipheral proton - nucleus collisions at the LHC. We estimate the total cross sections and associated distributions considering different models for the lepton PDFs and distinct lepton flavours. We demonstrate that a future experimental analysis of this process is feasible and that it can be used to constrain the content of electrons, muons and taus inside the proton., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Improved version to be published in PRD

The production of the $K_S^0$ meson in high multiplicity $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} =$ 13 TeV is investigated considering the hybrid formalism and the solution of the running coupling Balitsky - Kovchegov equation. The associated cross section is estimated and compared with the experimental data for the transverse momentum spectrum. Moreover, we analyze the self-normalized yields of $K_S^0$ mesons as a function of the multiplicity of coproduced charged hadrons and demonstrate that a steep increasing is theoretically predicted. A comparison with the ALICE data is presented considering two distinct solutions of the BK equation., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures. Improved version to be published in Physical Review C

The type II seesaw model predicts the existence of a doubly charged Higgs boson ($H ^{\pm\pm}$), which can be produced through the Drell - Yan process and photon -- induced interactions at hadronic colliders. In recent years, such reactions have been largely investigated in inclusive processes, where both incident protons breakup and a large number of particles is produced in addition to the doubly charged Higgs pair. In this paper, we investigate, for the first time, the possibility of searching for $H ^{\pm\pm}$ in exclusive processes, which are characterized by two rapidity gaps and two intact very forward protons in final state. We estimate the associated cross section making use of the exclusive nature of the final state, together with the use of timing information provided by forward proton detectors. Moreover, the background is estimated considering distinct amounts of pile-up. Our results indicate that the exclusive doubly charged Higgs pair production is a promising way to search for signatures of the type II seesaw and to obtain lower mass bounds on $H ^{\pm\pm}$., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Improved version published in PRD

The number of events observed in neutrino telescopes depends on the neutrino fluxes in the Earth, their absorption while crossing the Earth and their interaction in the detector. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the QCD dynamics at high energies on the energy dependence of the average inelasticity and angular dependence of the absorption probability during the neutrino propagation through the Earth, as well in the determination of the properties of the incident astrophysical neutrino flux. Moreover, the number of events at the IceCube and IceCube - Gen2 are estimated considering different scenarios for the QCD dynamics and assuming the presence of a hypothetical Super - Glashow flux, which peaks for energies above the Glashow resonance., Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. Revised and improved version published in EPJC

We investigate the effects of rapid and slow conversions on the fundamental-mode eigenfrequencies of hybrid neutron stars having highly discontinuous transitions between hadronic and quark matter, the so-called twin stars. We analyze some characteristic cases in the available parameter space of the equations of state for the hadronic and quark phases. Furthermore, we also consider the possibility that these stellar configurations are electrically charged. Our results indicate that for neutral configurations under rapid conversions the stability window coincides with the usual stability criterion, i.e. $\partial M/\partial p_c > 0$ and that the two branches are disconnected. This discontinuity remains when electric charge is considered, but the usual criterion is not sufficient to determine the star's stability. On the other hand, slow conversions connect initially disconnected branches and increase the stability window of the hybrid configurations. For both conversion speeds, the presence of electric charge diminishes the magnitude of the eigenfrequencies and its stability window., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Version published in EPJC

The goal of this whitepaper is to give a comprehensive overview of the rich field of forward physics. We discuss the occurrences of BFKL resummation effects in special final states, such as Mueller-Navelet jets, jet gap jets, and heavy quarkonium production. It further addresses TMD factorization at low x and the manifestation of a semi-hard saturation scale in (generalized) TMD PDFs. More theoretical aspects of low x physics, probes of the quark gluon plasma, as well as the possibility to use photon-hadron collisions at the LHC to constrain hadronic structure at low x, and the resulting complementarity between LHC and the EIC are also presented. We also briefly discuss diffraction at colliders as well as the possibility to explore further the electroweak theory in central exclusive events using the LHC as a photon-photon collider., Comment: 77 pages, 27 figures, contribution to Snowmass 2021; contributions updated and authors added

High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe Standard Model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential., Comment: 429 pages, contribution to Snowmass 2021

The elastic production of top quark pairs in $pp$ collisions at low and high luminosity regimes is investigated in detail. We extend the study performed in Phys. Rev. D102, 074014 (2020) which has demonstrated that the sum of two semi-exclusive $t\bar{t}$ production modes, namely in photon-Pomeron and Pomeron-Pomeron interactions, can be experimentally measured when the $t\bar{t}$ system decays semi-leptonically, $t\bar{t}\rightarrow jjbl\nu_l\bar{b}$, both forward protons are tagged and a low amount of pile-up is present. In this study we focus on separating individual channels and a special attention is paid to the situation at high-luminosity LHC environment. We observe that the separation of the pomeron-pomeron and photon-photon events is a challenging task, especially at high amounts of pile-up even with an optimistic 10~ps resolution of timing detectors. In contrast, the photon-Pomeron signal is relatively well separable from all backgrounds at low levels of pile-up, allowing us to discover the elastic $t\bar{t}$ production and probe, for the first time, the production of a top quark pair in the photon-Pomeron interactions. The diffractive photoproduction of such a complex system as the $t\bar{t}$ pair hence can be used not only to study diffractive properties of the scattering amplitude but also to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model, and consequently to be a solid part of the physics programme of forward proton detectors at LHC., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables

The exclusive production of vector mesons and photons in $ep$ collisions is investigated considering three phenomenological saturation models based on distinct assumptions for the treatment of the dipole - hadron scattering amplitude. The latest high precision HERA data for the reduced and vector meson cross sections are used to update the saturation model proposed by Marquet - Peschanski - Soyez (MPS), which predicts that the saturation model is dependent of the squared momentum transfer $t$. The MPS predictions for the photon virtuality, energy and $t$ - dependencies of the exclusive $\rho$, $J/\Psi$ and DVCS cross sections are presented and a detailed comparison with the results derived using the impact parameter saturation models is performed. Our results indicate that a future experimental analysis of the $t$ - distribution $d\sigma/dt$ for exclusive processes in the kinematical range that will covered by the EIC and LHeC, considering the distinct photon polarizations and large values of $t$, will be able to discriminate between the distinct approaches for the QCD dynamics at high energies., Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables