Saturation physics and deuteron–gold collisions at RHIC

Abstract

We present a review of parton saturation/Color Glass Condensate physics in the context of deuteron–gold ( d + Au ) collisions at RHIC. Color Glass Condensate physics is a universal description of all high energy hadronic and nuclear interactions. It comprises classical (McLerran–Venugopalan model and Glauber–Mueller rescatterings) and quantum evolution (JIMWLK and BK equations) effects both in small- x hadronic and nuclear wave functions and in the high energy scattering processes. Proton–nucleus (or d + A ) collisions present a unique opportunity to study Color Glass Condensate predictions, since many relevant observables in proton–nucleus collisions are reasonably well-understood theoretically in the Color Glass Condensate approach. In this article we review the basics of saturation/Color Glass Condensate physics and reproduce derivations of many important observables in proton (deuteron)–nucleus collisions. We compare the predictions of Color Glass physics to the data generated by d + Au experiments at RHIC and observe an agreement between the data and the theory, indicating that Color Glass Condensate has probably been discovered at RHIC. We point out further experimental measurements which need to be carried out to test the discovery.