Deciphering the X(3872) via its Polarization in Prompt Production at the CERN LHC

Area of Science:

• High Energy Physics
• Quantum Chromodynamics
• Hadron Spectroscopy

Background:

• The nature of the X(3872) exotic hadron remains elusive, with hypotheses suggesting it's a mixture of charmonium states.
• Understanding its production mechanism is crucial for advancing hadron physics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To calculate the prompt polarization of the X(3872) and its subsequent J/ψ decay products.
• To provide theoretical predictions for experimental verification at the LHC.

Main Methods:

• Utilized next-to-leading order calculations in α_{s} within the nonrelativistic QCD factorization formalism.
• Included both color-singlet and color-octet cc[over ¯] Fock states in the analysis.
• Considered the decay process of X(3872) to J/ψ.

Main Results:

• Predicted significant longitudinal polarization for the prompt X(3872).
• Predicted significant transverse polarization for the J/ψ produced from X(3872) decay.
• Results are applicable under experimental conditions of ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb.

Conclusions:

• The distinct polarization predictions offer a method to experimentally probe the nature of the X(3872).
• This study proposes polarization measurements as a key tool to identify the composition of exotic hadrons like X, Y, and Z states.