Measurement of the ϒ production cross section in 920 GeV fixed-target proton-nucleus collisions

The cross section ratio RJ/ψ=Br(ϒ→l+l−)⋅dσ(ϒ)/dy|y=0/σ(J/ψ) has been measured with the HERA-B spectrometer in fixed-target proton-nucleus collisions at 920 GeV proton beam energy corresponding to a proton-nucleon c.m.s. energy of s=41.6GeV. The combined results for the decay channels ϒ→e+e− and ϒ→μ+μ− yield a ratio RJ/ψ=(9.0±2.1)×10−6. The corresponding ϒ production cross section per nucleon at mid-rapidity (y=0) has been determined to be Br(ϒ→l+l−)⋅dσ(ϒ)/dy|y=0=4.5±1.1pb/nucleon.