We investigate the quarkonium production mechanisms in jets at the LHC, using the fragmenting jet functions (FJF) approach. Specifically, we discuss the jet energy dependence of the $J/\psi$ production cross section at the LHC. By comparing the cross sections for the different NRQCD production channels (${{}^{1}S}_0^{[8]}$, ${{}^{3}S}_1^{[8]}$, ${{}^{3}P}_J^{[8]}$, and ${{}^{3}S}_1^{[1]}$), we find that at fixed values of energy fraction $z$ carried by the $J/\psi$, if the normalized cross section is a decreasing function of the jet energy, in particular for $z>0.5$, then the depolarizing ${{}^{1}S}_0^{[8]}$ must be the dominant channel. This makes the prediction made in [Baumgart et al., J. High Energy Phys. 11 (2014) 003] for the FJF’s also true for the cross section. We also make comparisons between the long distance matrix elements extracted by various groups. This analysis could potentially shed light on the polarization properties of the $J/\psi$ production in high $p_T$ region.

• Received 1 August 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.96.036020