Probing hidden - bottom pentaquarks in fixed - target collisions at the LHC

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the possibility of searching for the hidden - bottom pentaquark states in photon – induced interactions at the LHC. We consider the presence of the Pb resonance in the s – channel of the γp→ϒp reaction and estimate its contribution for the exclusive ϒ photoproduction in the fixed - target mode of the LHC. Predictions for the total cross sections, rapidity and transverse momentum distributions are derived using the STARlight Monte Carlo considering Pb−p, Pb−He and Pb−Ar fixed - target collisions at the LHC. Our results indicate that the presence of the Pb resonance implies an enhancement in the rapidity distribution in the kinematical range covered by the LHCb detector. We demonstrate that the Pb contribution for the ϒ photoproduction becomes dominant if kinematical cuts are imposed on the rapidity and transverse momentum of the final state. These results indicate that an experimental analysis of the ϒ photoproduction in fixed – target collisions can provide complementary and independent checks of the existence of these states, and help to understand their underlying nature.