Topological production of charmonia with event-shape engineering in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using PYTHIA8

Abstract

The production of heavy quarks (charm and beauty) in high-energy hadronic and nuclear collisions provides an excellent testing ground for the theory of strong interactions and validates models based on quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In this work, prompt and nonprompt production of $J/\psi$ in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV are studied as a function of transverse spherocity using PYTHIA8. $J/\psi$ is reconstructed via its electromagnetic decay to dielectrons and dimuons, in mid- and forward-rapidity, respectively. Transverse spherocity, an event shape observable, is used to distinguish hard QCD events from the softer, isotropic ones. In PYTHIA8, the production of $J/\psi$ can be influenced by the average number of multiple parton interactions ($⟨N_{\mathrm{mpi}}⟩$), owing to the underlying events (UE), which have a dominant contribution to particle production at lower transverse momentum. Since transverse spherocity is correlated to $⟨N_{\mathrm{mpi}}⟩$, this can serve as an experimentally accessible tool for event selection to study the underlying QCD processes influencing the prompt and nonprompt $J/\psi$ production. This study reveals the correlation between heavy-flavor production dynamics and topological event selection in $pp$ collisions using PYTHIA8, whose relevance awaits experimental validation.

Comments: Same as the published version in Phys. Rev. D