Characterization of nuclear breakup as a function of hard-scattering kinematics using dijets measured by ATLAS in p+Pb collisions

Fernandez Barbadillo, Beltran (2026) Characterization of nuclear breakup as a function of hard-scattering kinematics using dijets measured by ATLAS in p+Pb collisions. Physics Letters, Section B: Nuclear, Elementary Particle and High-Energy Physics, 877: 140440. ISSN 0370-2693

Abstract

This Letter analyzes the sensitivity of event geometry estimators to the initial-state kinematics of hard scattering in proton–lead collisions. This analysis uses dijets as a proxy for the parton–parton scattering configuration, correlating it with event geometry estimators, namely the energy deposited in the Zero-Degree Calorimeter and the transverse energy recorded in the Forward Calorimeter in the Pb-going direction. The analysis uses data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider with a nucleon–nucleon center-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 56 nb . The jets are measured within the pseudorapidity interval −2.8  <  η  <  4.5, where positive η values correspond to the direction of the proton beam. Results are presented as a function of the Bjorken-x of the parton originating from the proton, xp. Both event geometry estimators are found to be dependent on xp, with the energy deposited in the Zero-Degree Calorimeter about six times less sensitive to xp compared with the transverse energy deposited in the Forward Calorimeter.