Measurement of the Nuclear Modification Factor and Prompt Charged Particle Production in p-Pb and pp Collisions at ffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi sNN p = 5 TeV

Abstract

The production of prompt charged particles in proton-lead collisions and in proton-proton collisions at the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy sqrt[s_{NN}]=5 TeV is studied at LHCb as a function of pseudorapidity (η) and transverse momentum (p_{T}) with respect to the proton beam direction. The nuclear modification factor for charged particles is determined as a function of η between -4.8<η<-2.5 (backward region) and 2.0<η<4.8 (forward region), and p_{T} between 0.2<p_{T}<8.0 GeV/c. The results show a suppression of charged particle production in proton-lead collisions relative to proton-proton collisions in the forward region and an enhancement in the backward region for p_{T} larger than 1.5 GeV/c. This measurement constrains nuclear PDFs and saturation models at previously unexplored values of the parton momentum fraction down to 10^{-6}.