# Forward 𝜋^∘-meson production at HERA

## 1 INTRODUCTION

It is the unique kinematical reach of the ep collider HERA which has enabled us to study deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) at values of Bjorken-$`x`$ down to $`x10^6`$ as well as at momentum transfers up to $`Q^2`$ $``$ 30000 GeV<sup>2</sup>.

In the classical DIS picture a parton in the proton can undergo a QCD cascade resulting in several parton emissions before the final parton interacts with the virtual photon. Differences between different dynamical assumptions on the parton cascade are expected to be emphasized in the region towards the proton remnant direction, i.e. away from the scattered quark in the HERA kinematical range. In the HERA laboratory frame this has been termed the forward region.

In this paper we study forward single $`\pi ^{}`$ production for a considerably larger data sample and in an enlarged kinematical range as compared to a previous publication by the H1 collaboration . The production of high $`p_T`$ particles is strongly correlated to the emission of hard partons in QCD  and is therefore sensitive to the dynamics of the strong interaction.

## 2 MEASUREMENT

The analysis is based on data representing an integrated luminosity of $``$$`=5.8\mathrm{pb}^1`$ taken by H1 during the 1996 running period. Deep-inelastic scattering events are selected in the range $`0.1<y<0.6`$ and $`2<Q^2<70`$ GeV<sup>2</sup>. About 600k events remain after the selection.

The $`\pi ^{}`$-mesons are measured using the dominant decay channel $`\pi ^{}`$ $`2\gamma `$. The $`\pi ^{}`$ candidates are selected in the region $`5^{}<`$$`\theta _\pi `$$`<25^{}`$, where $`\theta _\pi `$ is the polar angle of the produced $`\pi ^{}`$. Candidates are required to have an energy of $`x_\pi `$$`=`$$`E_\pi `$/$`E_{\mathrm{proton}}`$ $`>`$ 0.01, with $`E_{\mathrm{proton}}`$ the proton beam energy, and a transverse momentum in the hadronic cms, $`p_{T,\pi }`$, greater than 2.5 GeV. At the high $`\pi ^{}`$ energies considered here, the two photons from the decay cannot be separated, but appear as one object (cluster) in the calorimetric response. The standard method of reconstructing the invariant mass from the separate measurement of the two decay photons to identify the $`\pi ^{}`$-meson is hence not applicable. Instead, a detailed analysis of the longitudinal and transverse shape of the energy depositions is performed . This approach is based on the compact nature of electromagnetic showers as opposed to showers of hadronic origin, which are broader. The main experimental challenge in this analysis is the high particle and energy density in this region of phase space, with hadronic showers ‘obscuring’ the clear electromagnetic signature provided by the two photons of a $`\pi ^{}`$ decay. This overlap is mainly responsible for losses of $`\pi ^{}`$ detection efficiency, since the distortion of the shape estimators it causes will in many cases lead to the rejection of the cluster candidate. With this selection about 1700 $`\pi ^{}`$ candidates are found with a detection efficiency above 45$`\%`$.

Monte Carlo studies using a detailed simulation of the H1 detector yield a purity of about 70% for the selected $`\pi ^{}`$-meson sample, with impurities from misidentified hadrons from the main vertex, partly (10%) also from secondary vertices in dead material of the tracking detector.

## 3 RESULTS

The final experimental results of the analysis are obtained as differential cross sections of forward $`\pi ^{}`$-meson production as a function of $`Q^2`$, and as a function of $`x`$, $`\eta _\pi `$ and $`p_{T,\pi }`$ in three regions of $`Q^2`$ for $`p_{T,\pi }`$ $`>2.5`$ GeV. In addition the $`\pi ^{}`$ cross sections as a function of $`x`$ and $`Q^2`$ are measured for $`p_{T,\pi }`$ $`>`$ 3.5 GeV. The phase space is given by 0.1 $`<`$ $`y`$ $`<`$ 0.6, 2 $`<`$ $`Q^2`$ $`<`$ 70 $`\mathrm{GeV}^2`$, $`5^{}<`$ $`\theta _\pi `$ $`<25^{}`$ and $`x_\pi `$ $`=`$ $`E_\pi `$$`/`$$`E_{\mathrm{proton}}`$ $`>`$ 0.01 in addition to the $`p_{T,\pi }`$ thresholds given above. $`\theta _\pi `$ and $`x_\pi `$ are taken in the H1 laboratory frame, $`p_{T,\pi }`$ is calculated in the hadronic cms. The measurement extends down to values of $`x`$ $`>`$ 5$``$10<sup>-5</sup>, covering two orders of magnitude in $`x`$. Of these cross sections  only $`d\sigma _\pi /d`$$`x`$ for $`p_{T,\pi }`$ $`>2.5`$ GeV are shown here. All observables are corrected for detector effects and for the influence of QED radiation by a bin-by-bin unfolding procedure. The typical systematic uncertainty is 15-25$`\%`$, compared to a statistical uncertainty of about 10$`\%`$. Contributions to the systematic error include among others the energy scales of the calorimeter, uncertainties in the selection of $`\pi ^{}`$-mesons and the model dependence of the bin-by-bin correction procedure.

The cross sections as a function of $`x`$ shown in Figure 1 exhibit a strong rise towards small $`x`$. An interesting observation is that this rise corresponds to the rise of the inclusive ep cross section. The ratio of the two cross sections is shown in Figure 2 and shows no dependence on $`x`$ in the three regions of $`Q^2`$. The production rates do decrease with decreasing $`Q^2`$ for fixed $`x`$. The inclusive ep cross section for this comparison is obtained by integrating the H1 QCD fit to the 1996 structure function data as presented in  for every bin of the present measurement of inclusive $`\pi ^{}`$-meson cross sections.

The DGLAP prediction for pointlike virtual photon scattering only, represented by LEPTO , falls clearly below the data. The mechanism of emitting partons according to the DGLAP splitting functions, combined with pointlike virtual photon scattering only, is clearly not supported by the data in particular at low $`x`$. A considerable improvement of the description of the data is achieved by considering processes where the virtual photon entering the scattering process is resolved. Such a prediction is provided by RAPGAP . All predicted cross sections increase by up to 30$`\%`$ when the scale in the hard scattering is increased to $`Q^2+4p_T^2`$ from $`Q^2+p_T^2`$ , and hence does not improve the overall description. Whether this mechanism is adequate to describe the $`\pi ^{}`$ cross sections down to the lowest available $`x`$ therefore cannot finally be decided by RAPGAP.

Next we compare with a calculation following the BFKL formalism in order $`𝒪(\alpha _s)`$. Fragmentation functions are used to calculate the $`\pi ^{}`$-meson cross sections from the partonic final state. The predictions obtained with these calculations turn out to be in good agreement with the neutral pion cross sections measured in the entire available phase space with a slight tendency to be below the data at the lowest values of $`x`$ available.

## 4 CONCLUSIONS

With the present measurement of inclusive $`\pi ^{}`$-meson cross sections it has become possible for the first time to measure observables of the hadronic final state in this region of the phase space with relatively small experimental uncertainties. It provides testing ground for any theory that claims to describe processes at small $`x`$ with large phase space for parton emissions and a reasonably hard scale.

Models using $`𝒪(\alpha _s)`$ QCD matrix elements and parton cascades according to the DGLAP splitting functions cannot describe the differential neutral pion cross sections at low $`x`$. Including processes in which the virtual photon is resolved leads to an improved description of the data. Renormalization and factorization scale uncertainties however limit the precision of the predictions. A calculation based on the BFKL formalism is in good agreement with the data. Considering the relatively small uncertainties  given for this calculation it is the best available approximation of QCD in the considered phase space.