Polarized Heavy Quarkonium Production in the Color Evaporation Model

Abstract

We explore polarized heavy quarkonium production using the color evaporation model at leading order. We present the polarized to total yield ratio as a function of center of mass energy and rapidity in $p+p$ collisions. At energies far above the $Q \overline Q$ production threshold, we find charmonium and bottomonium production to be longitudinally polarized ($J_z=0$). The quarkonium states are also longitudinally polarized at central rapidity, becoming transversely polarized ($J_z=\pm1$) at the most forward rapidities.