A falsifiable sign test in near-threshold J/ψ photoproduction: sign-locked relation to confinement tension

A falsifiable sign test in near-threshold J/psi photoproduction: sign-locked relation to confinement tension (submitted)

Description:

This record contains the submitted Letter and Supplement for a falsifiable sign test in near-threshold J/psi photoproduction. Near-threshold gamma p -> J/psi p constrains the gluonic gravitational form factor through the forward small-|t| slope Bg, with a forward-anchored, energy-by-energy extraction protocol tied to t_min(W). We quantify robustness under window variations via an analysis-induced excursion diagnostic.

Within a minimal CP-even dimension-5 scalar–gluon “strain” deformation, mechanical equilibrium of the proton stress tensor implies a sign-locked relation between a shift in long-distance confinement tension and a shift in Bg: sign(delta sigma / sigma) = - sign(delta Bg). Because sigma and Bg extracted from data would already include any deformation if it exists, the test quantity is defined as delta Bg = Bg(exp) - Bg(QCD), requiring an external matched QCD-only baseline (e.g., lattice QCD or global gluonic-EMT analyses). Heavy-ion jet quenching may be used only as an optional external sign prior on delta sigma; it is not required for the near-threshold test itself.

Note: the Crossmark/Received/Revised sidebar in the PDFs is template formatting and does not indicate publication status; this version is under review.

Contents:

Manuscript PDF (submitted)

Supplement PDF (submitted)

Cleaned GlueX differential cross-section tables (from HEPData/GlueX record)

Analysis scripts and metadata required for reproducibility

Licenses:

Data: CC-BY-4.0

Code: MIT

Version note:v5 aligns the Zenodo record with the version submitted to Journal of Physics G (03-Feb-2026), adds the window-scan excursion figure, and reorders the Supplement to present diagnostics before derivations. Data/scripts remain consistent with prior releases.