CCharge-multiplicity dependence of single-particle transverse-rapidity $\bf y_t$ and pseudorapidity $\bf \eta$ densities and 2D angular correlations from 200 GeV $p$-$p$ collisions

Abstract

An established phenomenology and theoretical interpretation of $p$-$p$ collision data at lower collision energies should provide a reference for $p$-$p$ and other collision systems at higher energies, against which claims of novel physics may be tested. The description of $p$-$p$ collisions at the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC) has remained incomplete even as claims for collectivity and other novelties in data from smaller systems at the large hadron collider (LHC) have emerged recently. In this study we report the charge-multiplicity dependence of two-dimensional (2D) angular correlations and of single-particle (SP) densities on transverse rapidity $y_t$ and pseudorapidity $\eta$ from 200 GeV $p$-$p$ collisions. We define a comprehensive and self-consistent two-component (soft + hard) model (TCM) for hadron production and report a significant $p$-$p$ nonjet (NJ) quadrupole component as a third (angular-correlation) component. Our results have implications for $p$-$p$ centrality, the underlying event (UE), collectivity in small systems and the existence of flows in high-energy nuclear collisions.