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Measurement of the ratio of prompt $χ_{c}$ to $J/ψ$ production in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV

The prompt production of charmonium $χ_{c}$ and $J/ψ$ states is studied in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The $χ_{c}$ and $J/ψ$ mesons are identified through their decays $χ_{c}\rightarrow J/ψγ$ and $J/ψ\rightarrow μ^+μ^-$ using 36 pb$^{-1}$ of data collected by the LHCb detector in 2010. The ratio of the prompt production cross-sections for $χ_{c}$ and $J/ψ$, $σ(χ_{c}\rightarrow J/ψγ)/ σ(J/ψ)$, is determined as a function of the $J/ψ$ transverse momentum in the range $2 < p_{\mathrm T}^{J/ψ} < 15$ GeV/$c$. The results are in excellent agreement with next-to-leading order non-relativistic expectations and show a significant discrepancy compared with the colour singlet model prediction at leading order, especially in the low $p_{\mathrm T}^{J/ψ}$ region.