Color Glass Condensate Effective Theory Research Articles

First saturation correction in high energy proton-nucleus collisions. Part III. Ensemble averaging

In high energy proton-nucleus collisions, the gluon saturation effects from the nucleus are fully incorporated into the light-like Wilson lines. The gluon saturation effects from the proton, which are anticipated to be important either in the extreme high energy limit or towards the dense-dense (nucleus-nucleus) collision regimes, have been studied perturbatively within the Color Glass Condensate effective theory in previous papers of this series. A configuration-by-configuration expression for the single inclusive semi-hard gluon production including the first saturation correction was obtained. In this paper, we perform ensemble averaging in the McLerran-Venugopalan model and the Dipole Approximation. We find that, in the saturation correction, the effects of the initial state interactions are negligible while the final state interactions play most important role and give a positive-valued contribution to the semi-hard gluon spectrum. Furthermore, we show that the single gluon spectrum scales approximately 1/ {k}_{perp}^4 at small k⊥, suggesting that a resummation of higher order saturation corrections is required to regulate the infrared region of the gluon spectrum.

Spacetime structure of (3+1)D color fields in high energy nuclear collisions

We perform an analytic calculation of the color fields in heavy-ion collisions by considering the collision of longitudinally extended nuclei in the dilute limit of the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory of high-energy QCD. Based on general analytic expressions for the color fields in the future light cone, we evaluate the rapidity profile of the transverse pressure within a simple specific model of the nuclear collision geometry and compare our results to 3+1D classical Yang-Mills simulations.

Suppressions of dijet azimuthal correlations in the future EIC

Quark-antiquark pair (or dijet) production at the electron-ion collider (EIC) has been argued to be one of most important processes that allowing to access the Weizs\"acker-Williams (WW) gluon distributions at small $x$ limit. Within the framework of Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective field theory (EFT), we calculated the dijet cross sections and the azimuthal correlations by including the Sudakov resummations, numerical results shown that the back-to-back correlations are significantly suppressed when the Sudakov resummations are taken into account. In addition, by using the solutions of running-coupling Balitsky-Kovchegov (rcBK) equation, the unpolarized and linearly polarized WW gluon distributions both in coordinate and momentum space are presented.

Dijet impact factor in DIS at next-to-leading order in the Color Glass Condensate

We compute the next-to-leading order impact factor for inclusive dijet production in deeply inelastic electron-nucleus scattering at small xBj. Our computation, performed in the framework of the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory, includes all real and virtual contributions in the gluon shock wave background of all-twist lightlike Wilson line correlators. We demonstrate explicitly that the rapidity evolution of these correlators, to leading logarithmic accuracy, is described by the JIMWLK Hamiltonian. When combined with the next-to-leading order JIMWLK Hamiltonian, our results for the impact factor improve the accuracy of the inclusive dijet cross-section to mathcal{O} ( {alpha}_s^2 ln(xf/xBj)), where xf is a rapidity factorization scale. These results are an essential ingredient in assessing the discovery potential of inclusive dijets to uncover the physics of gluon saturation at the Electron-Ion Collider.

Scattering and gluon emission in a color field: A light-front Hamiltonian approach

We develop a numerical method to nonperturbatively study scattering and gluon emission of a quark from a colored target using a light-front Hamiltonian approach. The target is described as a classical color field, as in the Color Glass Condensate effective theory. The Fock space of the scattering system is restricted to the $\ket{q}+\ket{qg}$ sectors, but the time evolution of this truncated system is solved exactly. This method allows us to study the interplay between coherence and multiple scattering in gluon emission. It could be applied both to studying subeikonal effects in high energy scattering and to understanding jet quenching in a hot plasma.

First saturation correction in high energy proton-nucleus collisions. Part I. Time evolution of classical Yang-Mills fields beyond leading order

In high energy proton-nucleus collisions, the single- and double-inclusive soft gluon productions at the leading order have been calculated and phenomenologically studied in various approaches for many years. These studies do not take into account the saturation and multiple rescatterings in the field of the proton. The first saturation correction to these leading order results (the terms that are enhanced by the combination {alpha}_s^2{mu}^2 , where μ2 is the proton’s color charge squared per unit transverse area) has not been completely derived despite recent attempts using a diagrammatic approach. This paper is the first in a series of papers towards analytically completing the first saturation correction to physical observables in high energy proton-nucleus collisions. Our approach is to analytically solve the classical Yang-Mills equations in the dilute-dense regime using the Color Glass Condensate effective theory and compute physical observables constructed from classical gluon fields. In the current paper, the Yang-Mills equations are solved perturbatively in the field of the dilute object (the proton). Next-to-leading order and next-to-next-to-leading order analytic solutions are explicitly constructed. A systematic way to obtain all higher order analytic solutions is outlined.

Gluon imaging using azimuthal correlations in diffractive scattering at the Electron-Ion Collider

We study coherent diffractive photon and vector meson production in electron-proton and electron-nucleus collisions within the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory. We show that electron-photon and electron-vector meson azimuthal angle correlations are sensitive to non-trivial spatial correlations in the gluon distribution of the target, and perform explicit calculations using spatially dependent McLerran-Venugopalan initial color charge configurations coupled to the numerical solution of small $x$ JIMWLK evolution equations. We compute the cross-section differentially in $Q^2$ and $|t|$ and find sizeable anisotropies in the electron-photon and electron-$\mathrm{J}/\psi$ azimuthal correlations ($v_{1,2} \approx 2 - 10 \%$) in electron-proton collisions for the kinematics of the future Electron-Ion Collider. In electron-gold collisions these modulations are found to be significantly smaller ($v_{1,2} <0.1 \%$). We also compute incoherent diffractive production where we find that the azimuthal correlations are sensitive to fluctuations of the gluon distribution in the target.

Hadronization of correlated gluon fields

Following an explicit example, we present the chain of steps required for an event-by-event description of hadron production in high energy hadronic and nuclear collisions. We start from incoming nuclei, described in the color glass condensate effective theory, whose collision creates the gluon fields of the glasma. Individual gluons are then sampled from the gluon fields' Husimi (smeared Wigner) distributions and clustered using a new spacetime based algorithm. Clusters are fed into the Herwig event generator, which performs the hadronization, conserving energy and momentum. We discuss the physical implications of smearing and problems with the quasiparticle picture for the studied processes. We compute spectra of charged hadrons and identified particles and their azimuthal momentum anisotropies, and address systematic uncertainties on observables, resulting from the general lack of detailed knowledge of the hadronization mechanism.

Inclusive prompt photon-jet correlations as a probe of gluon saturation in electron-nucleus scattering at small x

We compute the differential cross-section for inclusive prompt photon+quark production in deeply inelastic scattering of electrons off nuclei at small x (e + A DIS) in the framework of the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory. The result is expressed as a convolution of the leading order (in the strong coupling αs) impact factor for the process and universal dipole matrix elements, in the limit of hard photon transverse momentum relative to the nuclear saturation scale Qs,A(x). We perform a numerical study of this process for the kinematics of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), exploring in particular the azimuthal angle correlations between the final state photon and quark. We observe a systematic suppression and broadening pattern of the back-to-back peak in the relative azimuthal angle distribution, as the saturation scale is increased by replacing proton targets with gold nuclei. Our results suggest that photon+jet final states in inclusive e + A DIS at high energies are in general a promising channel for exploring gluon saturation that is complementary to inclusive and diffractive dijet production. They also provide a sensitive empirical test of the universality of dipole matrix elements when compared to identical measurements in proton-nucleus collisions. However because photon+jet correlations at small x in EIC kinematics require jet reconstruction at small k⊥, it will be important to study their feasibility relative to photon-hadron correlations.

Measurement of inclusive J/ψ polarization in p+p collisions at s=200 GeV by the STAR experiment

We report on new measurements of inclusive J/$\psi$ polarization at mid-rapidity in p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV by the STAR experiment at RHIC. The polarization parameters, $\lambda_\theta$, $\lambda_\phi$, and $\lambda_{\theta\phi}$, are measured as a function of transverse momentum ($p_T$) in both the Helicity and Collins-Soper (CS) reference frames within $p_T< 10$ GeV/$C$. Except for $\lambda_\theta$ in the CS frame at the highest measured $p_T$, all three polarization parameters are consistent with 0 in both reference frames without any strong $p_T$ dependence. Several model calculations are compared with data, and the one using the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory coupled with non-relativistic QCD gives the best overall description of the experimental results, even though other models cannot be ruled out due to experimental uncertainties.

Observable Signatures of Initial State Momentum Anisotropies in Nuclear Collisions.

We show that the correlation between the elliptic momentum anisotropy v_{2} and the average transverse momentum [p_{T}] at fixed multiplicity in small system nuclear collisions carries information on the origin of the observed momentum anisotropy. A calculation using a hybrid IP-Glasma+music+UrQMD model that includes contributions from final state response to the initial geometry as well as initial state momentum anisotropies of the color glass condensate predicts a characteristic sign change of the correlator ρ[over ^](v_{2}^{2},[p_{T}]) as a function of charged particle multiplicity in p+Au and d+Au collisions at sqrt[s]=200 GeV, and p+Pb collisions at sqrt[s]=5.02 TeV. This sign change is absent in calculations without initial state momentum anisotropies. The model further predicts a qualitative difference between the centrality dependence of ρ[over ^](v_{2}^{2},[p_{T}]) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s]=200 GeV and Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt[s]=5.02 TeV, with only the latter showing a sign change in peripheral events. Predictions for O+O collisions at different collision energy show a similar behavior. Experimental observation of these distinct qualitative features of ρ[over ^](v_{2}^{2},[p_{T}]) in small and large systems would constitute strong evidence for the presence and importance of initial state momentum anisotropies predicted by the color glass condensate effective theory.

Deeply inelastic scattering structure functions on a hybrid quantum computer

We outline a strategy to compute deeply inelastic scattering structure functions using a hybrid quantum computer. Our approach takes advantage of the representation of the fermion determinant in the QCD path integral as a quantum mechanical path integral over 0+1-dimensional fermionic and bosonic worldlines. The proper time evolution of these worldlines can be determined on a quantum computer. While extremely challenging in general, the problem simplifies in the Regge limit of QCD, where the interaction of the worldlines with gauge fields is strongly localized in proper time and the corresponding quantum circuits can be written down. As a first application, we employ the Color Glass Condensate effective theory to construct the quantum algorithm for a simple dipole model of the $F_2$ structure function. We outline further how this computation scales up in complexity and extends in scope to other real-time correlation functions.

Photoproduction of three jets in the CGC: gluon TMDs and dilute limit

We study the process γA → qoverline{q}g + X in the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective theory. After obtaining the cross section, we consider two kinematic limits which are encompassed in our result. In the so-called correlation limit, the vector sum of the transverse momenta of the three outgoing particles is small with respect to the individual transverse momenta; the cross section then simplifies considerably and can be written in a factorized form, sensitive to both the unpolarized and linearly-polarized Weizsäcker-Williams transverse momentum dependent gluon distribution function (gluon TMD). The second limit of the CGC cross section that we consider is the dilute limit, which we obtain after performing a weak-field expansion; we recover a typical linear-regime expression, involving a single unintegrated gluon distribution function. Using numerical simulations of the small-x QCD evolution of the TMDs, we investigate the rapidity dependence of the cross section in the correlation limit.

JIMWLK evolution, Lindblad equation and quantum-classical correspondence

In the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective theory, the physics of valence gluons with large longitudinal momentum is reflected in the distribution of color charges in the transverse plane. Averaging over the valence degrees of freedom is effected by integrating over classical color charges with some quasi probability weight functional W [j] whose evolution with rapidity is governed by the JIMWLK equation. In this paper, we reformulate this setup in terms of effective quantum field theory on valence Hilbert space governed by the reduced density matrix hat{rho} for hard gluons, which is obtained after properly integrating out the soft gluon “environment”. We show that the evolution of this density matrix with rapidity in the dense and dilute limits has the form of Lindblad equation. The quasi probability distribution (weight) functional W is directly related to the reduced density matrix hat{rho} through the generalization of the Wigner-Weyl quantum-classical correspondence, which reformulates quantum dynamics on Hilbert space in terms of classical dynamics on the phase space. In the present case the phase space is non Abelian and is spanned by the components of transverse color charge density j. The same correspondence maps the Lindblad equation for hat{rho} into the JIMWLK evolution equation for W .

Extracting many-body correlators of saturated gluons with precision from inclusive photon+dijet final states in deeply inelastic scattering

We highlight the principal results of a computation in the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory (CGC EFT) of the next-to-leading order (NLO) impact factor for inclusive photon+dijet production at Bjorken $x_{\rm Bj} \ll 1$ in deeply inelastic electron-nucleus (e+A DIS) collisions. When combined with extant results for next-to-leading log $x_{\rm Bj}$ JIMWLK renormalization group (RG) evolution of gauge invariant two-point ("dipole") and four-point ("quadrupole") correlators of light-like Wilson lines, the inclusive photon+dijet e+A DIS cross-section can be determined to $\sim 10$\% accuracy. Our computation simultaneously provides the ingredients to compute fully inclusive DIS, inclusive photon, inclusive dijet and inclusive photon+jet channels to the same accuracy. This makes feasible quantitative extraction of many-body correlators of saturated gluons and precise determination of the saturation scale $Q_{S,A}(x_{\rm Bj})$ at a future Electron-Ion Collider. An interesting feature of our NLO result is the structure of the violation of the soft gluon theorem in the Regge limit. Another is the appearance in gluon emission of time-like non-global logs which also satisfy JIMWLK RG evolution.

Multigluon Correlations and Evidence of Saturation from Dijet Measurements at an Electron-Ion Collider.

We study inclusive and diffractive dijet production in electron-proton and electron-nucleus collisions within the color glass condensate effective field theory. We compute dijet cross sections differentially in both mean dijet transverse momentum P and recoil momentum Δ, as well as the anisotropy in the relative angle between P and Δ. Our results cover a much larger kinematic range than accessible in previous computations performed in the correlation limit approximation, where it is assumed that |P|≫|Δ|. We validate this approximation in its range of applicability and quantify its failure for |P|≲|Δ|. We also predict significant target-dependent deviations from the correlation limit approximation for |P|>|Δ| and |P|≲Q_{s}, which offers a straightforward test of gluon saturation and access to multigluon distributions at a future Electron-Ion Collider.

Hybrid Color Glass Condensate and hydrodynamic description of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider small system scan

Multi-particle correlation observables in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider small system scan are computed in a framework that contains both initial state momentum anisotropies from the Color Glass Condensate effective theory and final state hydrodynamic evolution. The initial state is computed using the IP-Glasma model and coupled to viscous relativistic hydrodynamic simulations, which are followed by microscopic hadronic transport. All parameters of the calculation were previously constrained using experimental data on Au+Au collisions at the same center of mass energy. We find that the qualitative features of the experimental data, such as the system and centrality dependence of the charged hadron momentum anisotropy, can only be reproduced when final state interactions are present. On the other hand, we also demonstrate that the details of the initial state are crucially important for the quantitative description of observables in the studied small systems, as neglecting the initial transverse flow profile or the initial shear stress tensor, which contain information on the momentum anisotropy from the Color Glass Condensate, has dramatic effects on the produced final state anisotropy. We further show that the initial state momentum anisotropy is correlated with the observed elliptic flow in all small systems, with the effect increasing with decreasing multiplicity. We identify the precise measurement of v2 in d+Au and Au+Au collisions at RHIC energy at the same multiplicity as a means to reveal effects of the initial state momentum anisotropy.

NLO impact factor for inclusive photon+dijet production in e+A DIS at small x

We compute the next-to-leading order (NLO) impact factor for inclusive photon $+$dijet production in electron-nucleus (e+A) deeply inelastic scattering (DIS) at small $x$. An important ingredient in our computation is the simple structure of ``shock wave" fermion and gluon propagators. This allows one to employ standard momentum space Feynman diagram techniques for higher order computations in the Regge limit of fixed $Q^2\gg \Lambda_{\rm QCD}^2$ and $x\rightarrow 0$. Our computations in the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) effective field theory include the resummation of all-twist power corrections $Q_s^2/Q^2$, where $Q_s$ is the saturation scale in the nucleus. We discuss the structure of ultraviolet, collinear and soft divergences in the CGC, and extract the leading logs in $x$; the structure of the corresponding rapidity divergences gives a nontrivial first principles derivation of the JIMWLK renormalization group evolution equation for multiparton lightlike Wilson line correlators. Explicit expressions are given for the $x$-independent $O(\alpha_s)$ contributions that constitute the NLO impact factor. These results, combined with extant results on NLO JIMWLK evolution, provide the ingredients to compute the inclusive photon $+$ dijet cross-section at small $x$ to $O(\alpha_s^3 \ln(x))$. First results for the NLO impact factor in inclusive dijet production are recovered in the soft photon limit. A byproduct of our computation is the LO photon+ 3 jet (quark-antiquark-gluon) cross-section.

Unequal rapidity correlators in the dilute limit of the JIMWLK evolution

We study unequal rapidity correlators in the stochastic Langevin picture of Jalilian-Marian-Iancu-McLerran-Weigert-Leonidov-Kovner (JIMWLK) evolution in the Color Glass Condensate effective field theory. We discuss a diagrammatic interpretation of the long-range correlators. By separately evolving the Wilson lines in the direct and complex conjugate amplitudes, we use the formalism to study two-particle production at large rapidity separations. We show that the evolution between the rapidities of the two produced particles can be expressed as a linear equation, even in the full nonlinear limit. We also show how the Langevin formalism for two-particle correlations reduces to a BFKL picture in the dilute limit and in momentum space, providing an interpretation of BFKL evolution as a stochastic process for color charges.

Fluctuations in heavy-ion collisions generated by QCD interactions in the color glass condensate effective theory

Since their discovery, fluctuations in the initial state of heavy-ion collisions have been understood as originating mostly from the random positions of nucleons within the colliding nuclei. We consider an alternative approach where all the focus is on fluctuations generated by QCD interactions, that we evaluate at leading logarithmic accuracy in the color glass condensate effective theory. We validate our approach using BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data on anisotropic flow. In particular, we show that, compared to standard Glauber-inspired calculations, our formalism provides a better description of the centrality dependence of the ratio of elliptic flow and triangular flow. It also naturally explains the evolution of elliptic flow fluctuations between RHIC and LHC energies.