Exclusive Z0 production in ep and eA collisions at high energies

Abstract

In this work the k⊥-factorization formalism is applied to compute the exclusive Z0 boson photoproduction in ep and eA collisions. The study is also extended to pp and AA processes. The nuclear effects are investigated considering heavy and light ions. Analytical models for the unintegrated gluon distribution are taken into account and the corresponding theoretical uncertainty is quantified. The analysis is done for electron-ion collisions at the Large Hadron-Electron Collider, its high-energy upgrade and at the Future Circular Collider in lepton-hadron mode. Additionally, ultra-peripheral heavy ion collisions at future runs of the Large Hadron Collider and at the Future Circular Collider (hadron hadron mode) are also considered.