Charmonium absorption by nucleons

Abstract

$J/\Psi$ dissociation in collisions with nucleons is studied within a boson exchange model and the energy dependence of the dissociation cross section is calculated from the threshold for $\Lambda_c{\bar D}$ production to high energies. We illustrate the agreement of our results with calculations based on short distance QCD and Regge theory. The compatibility between our calculations and the data on $J/\Psi$ photoproduction on a nucleon is discussed. We evaluate the elastic $J/\Psi{+}N$ cross section using a forward dispersion relation and demonstrate the overall agreement with the predictions from QCD sum rules. Our results are compatible with the phenomenological dissociation cross section evaluated from the experimental data on $J/\Psi$ production from $\gamma{+}A$, $p{+}A$ and $A{+}A$ collisions.