NLO QCD corrections to the Bc -pair hadroproduction

The <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><a:msub><a:mi>B</a:mi><a:mi>c</a:mi></a:msub></a:math> meson pair, including pairs of pseudoscalar states and vector states, productions in proton-proton collisions are investigated at the next-to-leading order (NLO) accuracy in the nonrelativistic quantum chromodynamics factorization formalism. The corresponding cross sections at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) with <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><c:msqrt><c:mi>s</c:mi></c:msqrt><c:mo>=</c:mo><c:mn>14</c:mn><c:mtext> </c:mtext><c:mtext> </c:mtext><c:mi>TeV</c:mi></c:math> are evaluated. Numerical results indicate that the NLO corrections are substantial, and even dominate over the leading order contributions. Considering the predicted cross sections are sizable, the <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><e:msub><e:mi>B</e:mi><e:mi>c</e:mi></e:msub></e:math>-pair production is expected to be observable at the high-luminosity LHC experiment. Published by the American Physical Society 2024