Measurement of the angle between jet axes in pp collisions at √s = 5.02 TeV

This article reports measurements of the angle between differently defined jet axes in pp collisions at s = 5.02 TeV carried out by the ALICE Collaboration. Charged particles at midrapidity are clustered into jets with resolution parameters R = 0.2 and 0.4. The jet axis, before and after Soft Drop grooming, is compared to the jet axis from the Winner-Takes-All (WTA) recombination scheme. The angle between these axes, ∆R axis, probes a wide phase space of the jet formation and evolution, ranging from the initial high-momentum-transfer scattering to the hadronization process. The ∆R axis observable is presented for 20 < pTchjet < 100 GeV/c, and compared to predictions from the PYTHIA 8 and Herwig 7 event generators. The distributions can also be calculated analytically with a leading hadronization correction related to the non-perturbative component of the Collins-Soper-Sterman (CSS) evolution kernel. Comparisons to analytical predictions at next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy with leading hadronization correction implemented from experimental extractions of the CSS kernel in Drell-Yan measurements are presented. The analytical predictions describe the measured data within 20% in the perturbative regime, with surprising agreement in the non-perturbative regime as well. These results are compatible with the universality of the CSS kernel in the context of jet substructure. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. © 2023, The Author(s).