# 1 Introduction

## 1 Introduction

According to the factorization theorem of perturbative QCD  inclusive cross section of a hard process should increase proportionally to $`A`$ in p+A interactions and proportionaly to $`A^2`$ in A+A collisions. Models describing $`J/\psi `$ production are built on the basis of this prediction (for review see ). They treat creation of a $`c\overline{c}`$ pairs as a hard process and they further assume that the initial number of $`J/\psi `$ mesons is proportional to the number of charm pairs. Therefore in the absence of medium effects the $`J/\psi `$ cross section is expected to increase as $`A(A^2)`$ for p+A (A+A) collisions.

Experimental results on $`J/\psi `$ production in p+A interactions contradict this naive expectation showing an increase of the cross section proportional to $`A^{0.9}`$. This reduction of the $`A`$–dependence is usually explained as being predominantly due to final state interactions of the $`J/\psi `$ meson (or its premeson state) with nucleons . However models based on this picture and parameters fitted to the p+A data in general overpredict recent results on $`J/\psi `$ production in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 A$``$GeV (for review see ). This reduction of $`J/\psi `$ production in the latter data is usually interpreted as due to interactions of $`J/\psi `$ (pre)mesons with surrounding high density matter (ultimately the Quark Gluon Plasma) .

In high energy A+A collisions (from central S+S to central Pb+Pb) the multiplicity of pions and strange hadrons increase proportionally to the number of colliding nucleons (participant nucleons) . These data and their interpretation in terms of a statistical QGP model  suggested the question whether a similar dependence may be observed for charm and consequently for $`J/\psi `$ production. A simple estimation of the centrality dependence of the $`J/\psi `$ to pion ratio in Pb+Pb collisions indicates that this hypothesis may be in fact correct .

The aim of this paper is to review available experimental results to obtain information concerning the $`A`$–dependence of $`J/\psi `$ yield. In particular we study the $`A`$–dependence of the $`J/\psi `$ to pion ratio using results on proton–proton and nucleus–nucleus interactions (Sections 2 and 3) and proton–nucleus interactions (Section 4). We summarize also results on the $`A`$–dependence of the open charm yield in p+A interactions (Section 5).

## 2  $`J/\psi `$ Multiplicity in p+p Interactions

In p+p interactions the $`J/\psi `$ cross section was measured at five different collision energies, $`\sqrt{s}`$ = 6.8 GeV , 8.7 GeV , 19.4 GeV , 24.3 GeV  and 52 GeV . Most of the data are measured for $`x_F>0`$ and they are not corrected for the branching ratio to the measured decay channel.

The mean multiplicity of $`J/\psi `$ mesons in full momentum space, $`J/\psi `$, is obtained in the following way. The $`x_F`$ distribution of $`J/\psi `$ is assumed to be symmetric with respect to reflection at $`x_F`$ = 0. The most recent values of the branching ratios $`J/\psi \mu ^++\mu ^{}`$ ($`B_{\mu \mu }`$ = 0.0601) and $`J/\psi e^++e^{}`$ ($`B_{ee}`$ = 0.0602) were used . The cross sections of $`J/\psi `$ production were further divided by the cross sections for inelastic p+p interactions at the corresponding collision energy. The latter cross sections were calculated according to the parametrization of the experimental data given in . The resulting values of $`J/\psi `$ are given in Table 1.

For comparison with the data on nucleus–nucleus collisions at the SPS the mean $`J/\psi `$ multiplicity for p+p interactions at 158 GeV ($`\sqrt{s}`$ = 17.3 GeV) is needed. In this energy range the energy dependence of the integrated cross section for $`J/\psi `$ production can be conveniently parametrized by :

$$\sigma ^{J/\psi }=\sigma _0(1\frac{m_{J/\psi }}{\sqrt{s}})^a,$$

where $`a=12`$ and $`\sigma _0`$ are parameters fitted to the data, $`\sigma ^{J/\psi }`$ and $`m_{J/\psi }`$ are $`J/\psi `$ cross section and mass, respectively. This parametrization predicts a decrease of the $`J/\psi `$ yield by about 25% when going from $`\sqrt{s}`$ = 19.4 GeV to $`\sqrt{s}`$ = 17.3 GeV. Thus we can estimate $`J/\psi `$ to be $`(2.9\pm 0.5)10^6`$ at $`\sqrt{s}`$ = 17.3 GeV using the measured value of $`J/\psi `$ = $`(3.8\pm 0.3)10^6`$ at $`\sqrt{s}`$ = 19.4 GeV (see Table I). The result of the above interpolation, shown by the open circle in Fig. 1, agrees with the value estimated in Ref.  for p+p interactions at 150 GeV using data available at this energy  and an additional assumption concerning an unpublished ratio of cross sections.

The mean multiplicity of negatively charged hadrons (more than 90% are $`\pi ^{}`$–mesons) in nucleon–nucleon (N+N) interactions at 158 GeV is $`h^{}`$ = $`3.01\pm 0.06`$ . This mean multiplicity was calculated as $`h^{}=(h^{}_{pp}+2h^{}_{pn}+h^{}_{nn})/4`$, where $`h^{}_{pp}`$, $`h^{}_{pn}`$ and $`h^{}_{nn}`$ are mean multiplicities of negatively charged hadrons for p+p, p+n and n+n interactions at 158 A$``$GeV, respectively .

Taking the value of $`J/\psi `$ calculated above we obtain $`J/\psi /h^{}=(0.96\pm 0.17)10^6`$ for N+N interactions at $`\sqrt{s}`$ = 17.3 GeV. This ratio is further used for the comparison with nucleus–nucleus data.

## 3 $`J/\psi `$ Production in Nucleus–Nucleus Collisions

The production of $`J/\psi `$ in nucleus–nucleus collisions was measured by the NA38 Collaboration for O+Cu, O+U and S+U interactions at 200 A$``$GeV  and by the NA50 Collaboration for Pb+Pb interactions at 158 A$``$GeV . The procedure which allows to calculate the $`J/\psi /h^{}`$ ratio from the published data is described below using as an example the Pb+Pb results.

The measured $`J/\psi `$ cross section in minimum bias Pb+Pb collisions is:

$$B_{\mu \mu }\sigma _{acc}^{J/\psi }=21.9\pm 0.2\pm 1.6\mu \mathrm{b}.$$

This cross section refers to the NA50 acceptance $`0<y_{cm}<1`$ and $`0.5<cos\theta _{CS}<0.5`$, where $`y_{cm}`$ is the $`J/\psi `$ rapidity calculated in the c.m. system and $`\theta _{CS}`$ is the Collins–Soper angle . In order to get an estimate of the total $`J/\psi `$ cross section we assume that the $`J/\psi `$ production for $`y_{cm}>1`$ can be neglected and that the distribution in $`cos\theta _{CS}`$ is uniform . This leads to a correction factor for the acceptance equal to 4. Based on the h+p results at 200 GeV  one can estimate that neglecting $`J/\psi `$ yield at $`y_{cm}>1`$ may lead to an underestimation of the $`J/\psi `$ multiplicity by less than 30%. A similar conclusion is reached when the $`J/\psi `$ rapidity distribution in Pb+Pb collisions is assumed to be similar to the rapidity distribution of the $`\varphi `$ mesons measured by the NA49 Collaboration . In addition, the cross section presented by NA50 is corrected here for the branching ratio $`J/\psi \mu ^++\mu ^{}`$ ($`B_{\mu \mu }`$ = 0.0601) . The cross section for $`J/\psi `$ production resulting from the above procedure is:

$$\sigma ^{J/\psi }=1.46\pm 0.12\mathrm{mb},$$

where systematic uncertainty of our extrapolation procedure is not included in the quoted error. The $`J/\psi `$ multiplicity can be calculated as

$$J/\psi =\frac{\sigma ^{J/\psi }}{\sigma }=(2.07\pm 0.17)10^4,$$

where $`\sigma `$ is the total cross section of inelastic Pb+Pb collisions calculated to be 7040 mb using a parametrization of the measured data given in Ref. .

The results of the NA35 and NA49 Collaborations  indicate that the ratio of $`h^{}`$ to the mean number of participant nucleons, $`N_P`$, is the same for central S+S and Pb+Pb collisions 158 A$``$GeV and equal to $`h^{}/N_P=1.93\pm 0.14`$. We assume therefore the same value of the ratio for inelastic Pb+Pb collisions. Using the mean number of participant nucleons for the latter collisions calculated within the Fritiof model  ($`N_P=102`$) we get $`h^{}=197\pm 14`$. This leads to $`J/\psi /h^{}=(1.05\pm 0.11)10^6`$ for inelastic Pb+Pb collisions at 158 A$``$GeV.

A similar procedure is used to calculate the $`J/\psi /h^{}`$ ratio for O+Cu, O+U and S+U interactions. There are however two difference. The $`J/\psi `$ cross sections for oxygen and sulphur induced reactions are measured at 200 A$``$GeV . Therefore for the comparison with the results at 158 A$``$GeV the measured values are scaled down by 25% according to the energy dependence of the $`J/\psi `$ multiplicity established for p+p interactions (see Section 2). Due to projectile–target asymmetry the $`x_F`$ distribution of $`J/\psi `$ is expected to be not symmetric with respect to reflection at $`x_F=0`$. The correction for this effect is negelected.

The ratios obtained for nucleus–nucleus collisions and the corresponding ratio for N+N interactions at the 158 A$``$GeV are shown in Fig. 2 as a function of $`N_P`$. It is surprising that the ratio $`J/\psi /h^{}`$ is similar for nucleon–nucleon and nucleus–nucleus interactions. One should however keep in mind that the ratios for nucleus–nucleus collisions may be underestimated by up to 30%. We repeat that this uncertainty is due to limited accepetance of the $`J/\psi `$ measurement for nucleus–nucleus collisions. This systematic error can be reduced when the results on the rapidity or $`x_F`$ distributions are published.

Finally we note that the ratio $`hardprocess/h^{}`$ is expected to increase by a factor of about 3 when going from N+N to Pb+Pb interactions, where $`hardprocess`$ denotes here a mean multiplicity of any process for which the cross section in A+A collisions increases as $`A^2`$.

## 4 $`J/\psi `$ Production in p+A Interactions

The inclusive cross section for $`J/\psi `$ production in p+A interactions is measured in the region $`x_F>`$ 0 and it is usually parametrized as :

$$\sigma ^{J/\psi }=\sigma _0(J/\psi )A^{\alpha (J/\psi )},$$

where $`\sigma _0(J/\psi )`$ and $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$ are parameters fitted to the experimental data. A strong dependence of $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$ on $`x_F`$ was recently measured by the E866 Collaboration  at 800 GeV. The $`x_F`$ distribution of $`J/\psi `$ decreases by a factor of about 10 from $`x_F`$ = 0 to $`x_F`$ = 0.4 . Thus the $`A`$–dependence of the integrated $`J/\psi `$ cross section in the region $`x_F>0`$ is dominated by the dependence measured close to $`x_F=0`$. The values of $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$ obtained from $`x_F`$ integrated data ($`x_F0`$) or from the data close to $`x_F=0`$ range from 0.89 to 0.94. The results were obtained by various experiments  in the collision energy range 200–800 GeV and they were compiled in . The $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$ values are shown in Fig. 3 as a function of $`\sqrt{s}`$ (filled circles).

In order to compare the $`A`$–dependence of $`J/\psi `$ and $`h^{}`$ production the parameter $`\alpha `$ was fitted here to data  on the total multiplicity of negatively charged hadrons produced in p+A interactions at 200 GeV and 360 GeV. In the fit the multiplicity of proton–nucleon (p+N) interactions at the corresponding energy was included. This multiplicity was calculated as $`h^{}=(h^{}_{pp}+h^{}_{pn})/2`$ . Finally the $`\alpha `$ parameter fitted to the multiplicity data was added to the $`\alpha `$ parameter obtained by the fit to the inelastic cross section results ($`\alpha =0.72\pm 0.01`$) . The obtained values of $`\alpha (h^{})`$ ($`\alpha (h^{})`$ = 0.88 $`\pm `$ 0.01 at 200 GeV and $`\alpha (h^{})`$ = 0.90 $`\pm `$ 0.02 at 360 GeV) are shown in Fig. 4 (open circles). The values of $`\alpha (h^{})`$ are similar to the values of $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$. There is no evidence for any significant energy dependence both for $`\alpha (h^{})`$ and $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$. Similar values of the $`\alpha `$ parameter for $`h^{}`$ and $`J/\psi `$ production imply that the ratio $`J/\psi (x_f>0)/h^{}`$ is approximately independent of $`A`$ for p+A interactions at high energy. We note that the difference in the $`\alpha `$ parameter of 0.02 (typical for the values shown in Fig. 3) results in 10% change in the multiplicity ratio between p+N and p+Pb interactions. This can be compared to about 70% increase of the ratio $`hardprocess/h^{}`$ expected when going from p+N to p+Pb interactions, where $`hardprocess`$ denotes here a mean multiplicity of any process for which the cross section in p+A interactions increases as $`A`$ ($`\alpha =1`$).

The measurements of $`J/\psi `$ production in the backward hemisphere ($`x_F<0`$) are poor. However, the experimental data  seems to indicate that $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$ for $`x_F<0`$ is similar to $`\alpha (J/\psi )`$ for $`x_F>0`$ (we note that this is not the case for pion production). This suggests that our conclusion concerning the similar $`A`$–dependence of $`h^{}`$ and $`J/\psi `$ production, based on the $`J/\psi `$ data from the forward hemisphere only, may remain unchanged when the $`J/\psi `$ results in full phase space become available.

## 5 Conclusions

The main result of this paper is that the ratio of mean multiplicities of $`J/\psi `$ mesons and pions is similar for inelastic proton–proton, proton–nucleus and nucleus–nucleus interactions at 158 A$``$GeV. In our opinion this experimental observation justifies a question whether the generally accepted picture of $`J/\psi `$ creation based on the factorization theorem of the perturbative QCD and subsequent suppression of the $`J/\psi `$ yield by the interactions with the surrounding medium is valid. In this picture the observed scaling behaviour of the data, $`J/\psi /h^{}const(A)`$, can be treated only as due to accidental cancelation of several large effects.

It is obvious that the mechanism of $`J/\psi `$ production can not be understood without data on open charm creation. Published data on $`D`$ and $`\overline{D}`$ production in p+A interactions are insufficient. The results on the $`A`$–dependence are summarized in Fig. 4, where $`\alpha (D,\overline{D})`$ is shown as a function of $`x_F`$ for interactions at 400 GeV  and 800 GeV . It is clear that these data do not allow to distinguish between $`\alpha 1`$, as usually assumed for charm production on the basis of perturbative QCD, and $`\alpha 0.9`$, the value obtained for pion and $`J/\psi `$ production. Data on open charm production in nucleus–nucleus collisions do not exist. It is therefore crucial for our understanding of the mechanism of charm creation and $`J/\psi `$ production to measure open charm yields in nucleus–nucleus collisions.

Acknowledgements

I thank Reinhard Stock for triggering publication of this work. I also thank him Andrzej Białas, Leonid Frankfurt, Mark I. Gorenstein, Jörg Hüfner, Helmut Satz, Peter Seyboth and Herbert Ströbele for discussions and comments. Claudie Gerschel and Carlos Lourenco helped me to understand data on $`J/\psi `$ production.

Table 1 The results on mean multiplicity of $`J/\psi `$ mesons produced in p+p interactions.

| $`\sqrt{s}`$ \[GeV\] | $`J/\psi 10^6`$ | Reference |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 6.8 | 0.021 $`\pm `$ 0.006 |  |
| 8.7 | 0.075 $`\pm `$ 0.037 |  |
| 19.4 | 3.8 $`\pm `$ 0.3 |  |
| 24.3 | 4.6 $`\pm `$ 0.8 |  |
| 52.0 | 19.7 $`\pm `$ 8.7 |  |