Coherent J/ψJ/ψ production—A novel feature at LHC?

Energy dependence of heavy quarkonia production in hadron–nucleus collisions is studied in the framework of the Glauber–Gribov theory. We emphasize a change in the space–time picture of heavy-quark state production on nuclei with energy. Longitudinally ordered scattering of a heavy-quark system takes place at low energies, while with increasing energy it transforms to a coherent scattering of projectile partons on the nuclear target. The characteristic energy scale for this transition depends on masses and rapidities of produced particles. For J/ψJ/ψ, produced in the central rapidity region, the transition happens at RHIC energies. The parameter-free calculation of J/ψJ/ψ in dAu collisions is in good agreement with recent RHIC data. We use distributions of gluons in nuclei to predict suppression of heavy quarkonia at LHC.