Exclusive vector toponium photoproduction in hadronic collisions

Abstract An exploratory study of the exclusive production of a vector - toponium $$\psi _t$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>ψ</mml:mi> <mml:mi>t</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:math> state by photon–hadron interactions is performed considering proton–proton and proton–nucleus collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Future Circular Collider (FCC) energies. The scattering amplitude is calculated using the $$k_T$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msub> <mml:mi>k</mml:mi> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> </mml:msub> </mml:math> - factorization formalism assuming that the vector–toponium state can be described by a Gaussian light-cone wave function and considering different models for the unintegrated gluon distribution. Predictions for the rapidity distributions and total cross - sections are presented. Our results indicate that the experimental measurement of this final state will be very difficult for the expected integrated luminosities at the LHC and FCC.