Exclusive dilepton production at forward rapidities in PbPb collisions

Abstract

AbstractThe dilepton production at forward rapidities in diffractive and exclusive processes present in ultraperipheral PbPb collisions at the LHC is investigated. Predictions for the $$e^+ e^-$$ e + e - , $$\mu ^+ \mu ^-$$ μ + μ - and $$\tau ^+ \tau ^-$$ τ + τ - cross sections are presented taking into account of realistic cuts that can be implemented by the LHCb Collaboration in a future experimental analysis. Our results indicate that the background associated with the diffractive production can be strongly suppressed and the exclusive processes can be cleanly separated. For the $$\tau ^+ \tau ^-$$ τ + τ - production, the semi and purely leptonic decay channels are considered. Our results indicate that a future experimental analysis of the dilepton production at the LHCb is feasible and can be useful to search for BSM physics.