QCD corrections to polarization of J/\psi and \Upsilon at Fermilab Tevatron and CERN LHC

Abstract

In this work, we present more detail of the calculation on the NLO QCD corrections to polarization of direct J/psi production via color singlet at Tevatron and LHC, as well as the results for Upsilon for the first time. Our results show that the J/psi polarization status drastically changes from transverse polarization dominant at LO into longitudinal polarization dominant in the whole range of the transverse momentum $p_t$ of J/psi when the NLO corrections are counted. For Upsilon production, the p_t distribution of the polarization status behaves almost the same as that for J/psi except that the NLO result is transverse polarization at small p_t range. Although the theoretical evaluation predicts a larger longitudinal polarization than the measured value at Tevatron, it may provide a solution towards the previous large discrepancy for J/psi and Upsilon polarization between theoretical predication and experimental measurement, and suggests that the next important step is to calculate the NLO corrections to hadronproduction of color octet state J/psi^(8) and Upsilon^(8). Our calculations are performed in two ways, namely we do and do not analytically sum over the polarizations, and then check them with each other.