Indication for double parton scatterings in W plus prompt J/ψ production at the LHC

We re-analyse the associated production of a prompt J/psi and a W boson in pp collisions at the LHC following the results of the ATLAS Collaboration. We perform the first study of the Single-Parton Scattering (SPS) contributions at the Next-to-Leading Order (NLO) in alpha(s) in the Colour-Evaporation Model (CEM), an approach based on the quark-hadron-duality. Our study provides clear indications for Double-Parton-Scattering (DPS) contributions, in particular at low transverse momenta, since our SPS CEM evaluation, which can be viewed as a conservative upper limit of the SPS yields, falls short compared to the ATLAS experimental data by 3.1 standard deviations. We also determine a finite allowed region for sigma(eff), inversely proportional to the size of the DPS yields, corresponding to the otherwise opposed hypotheses, namely our NLO CEM evaluation and the LO direct Colour-Singlet (CS) Model contribution. In both cases, the resulting DPS yields are significantly larger than that initially assumed by ATLAS based on jet-related analyses but is consistent with their observed raw-yield azimuthal distribution and with their prompt J/psi + J/psi and Z+ prompt J/psi data. (C) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.