Measurement of beauty production via non-prompt charm hadrons in p–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV

Abstract

The production cross sections of D0, D+, and Λc+ hadrons originating from beauty-hadron decays (i.e. non-prompt) were measured for the first time at midrapidity in proton–lead (p–Pb) collisions at the center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of sNN = 5.02 TeV. Nuclear modification factors (RpPb) of non-prompt D0, D+, and Λc+ are calculated as a function of the transverse momentum (pT) to investigate the modification of the momentum spectra measured in p–Pb collisions with respect to those measured in proton–proton (pp) collisions at the same energy. The RpPb measurements are compatible with unity and with the measurements in the prompt charm sector, and do not show a significant pT dependence. The pT-integrated cross sections and pT-integrated RpPb of non-prompt D0 and D+ mesons are also computed by extrapolating the visible cross sections down to pT = 0. The non-prompt D-meson RpPb integrated over pT is compatible with unity and with model calculations implementing modification of the parton distribution functions of nucleons bound in nuclei with respect to free nucleons. The non-prompt Λc+/D0 and D+/D0 production ratios are computed to investigate hadronisation mechanisms of beauty quarks into mesons and baryons. The measured ratios as a function of pT display a similar trend to that measured for charm hadrons in the same collision system. © The Author(s) 2024.