Gluon Saturation Research Articles

Dijet azimuthal correlations and conditional yields in pp and p+Pb collisions at sNN=5.02TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of forward-forward and forward-central dijet azimuthal angular correlations and conditional yields in proton-proton ($pp$) and proton-lead ($p$+Pb) collisions as a probe of the nuclear gluon density in regions where the fraction of the average momentum per nucleon carried by the parton entering the hard scattering is low. In these regions, gluon saturation can modify the rapidly increasing parton distribution function of the gluon. The analysis utilizes 25 pb$^{-1}$ of $pp$ data and 360 $\mu \mathrm{b}^{-1}$ of $p$+Pb data, both at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV, collected in 2015 and 2016, respectively, with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the center-of-mass frame of the nucleon-nucleon system in the rapidity range between $-$4.0 and 4.0 using the two highest transverse momentum jets in each event, with the highest transverse momentum jet restricted to the forward rapidity range. No significant broadening of azimuthal angular correlations is observed for forward-forward or forward-central dijets in $p$+Pb compared to $pp$ collisions. For forward-forward jet pairs in the proton-going direction, the ratio of conditional yields in $p$+Pb collisions to those in $pp$ collisions is suppressed by approximately 20%, with no significant dependence on the transverse momentum of the dijet system. No modification of conditional yields is observed for forward-central dijets.

Broadening and saturation effects in dijet azimuthal correlations in p-p and p-Pb collisions at [formula omitted

We demonstrate that the recent forward-forward dijet correlation data measured by the ATLAS collaboration for proton-proton and proton-lead collisions are consistent with the broadening effects due to both the gluon saturation and the resummation of large logarithms of a hard scale (the so-called Sudakov logarithms). We find that both effects are necessary to describe the experimental results.

QCD evolution based evidence for the onset of gluon saturation in exclusive photo-production of vector mesons

We investigate photo-production of vector mesons J/Ψ and ϒ measured both at HERA and LHC, using 2 particular fits of inclusive unintegrated gluon distributions, based on non-linear Balitsky-Kovchegov evolution (Kutak-Sapeta gluon; KS) and next-to-leading order Balitsky-Fadin-Kuraev-Lipatov evolution (Hentschinski-Sabio Vera-Salas gluon; HSS). We find that linear next-to-leading order evolution can only describe production at highest energies, if perturbative corrections are increased to unnaturally large values; rendering these corrections to a perturbative size, the growth with energy is too strong and the description fails. At the same time, the KS gluon, which we explore both with and without non-linear corrections, requires the latter to achieve an accurate description of the energy dependence of data. We interpret this observation as a clear signal for the presence of high gluon densities in the proton, characteristic for the onset of gluon saturation.

Assessing saturation physics explanations of collectivity in small collision systems with the ip-jazma model

Experimental measurements in relativistic collisions of small systems from $p+p$ to $p/d/^{3}\mathrm{He}+\mathrm{A}$ at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) reveal particle emission patterns that are strikingly similar to those observed in $A+A$ collisions of large nuclei. One explanation of these patterns is the formation of small droplets of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) followed by hydrodynamic evolution. A geometry engineering program was proposed to further investigate these emission patterns, and the experimental data from that program in $p+\mathrm{Au}, d+\mathrm{Au}, ^{3}\mathrm{He}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions for elliptic and triangular anisotropy coefficients ${v}_{2}$ and ${v}_{3}$ follow the pattern predicted by hydrodynamic calculations [C. Aidala et al. (PHENIX Collaboration), Nat. Phys. 15, 214 (2019)]. One alternative approach, referred to as initial-state correlations, suggests that for small systems the patterns observed in the final-state hadrons are encoded at the earliest moments of the collision and therefore require no final-state parton scattering or hydrodynamic evolution. Recently, new calculations using only initial-state correlations, in the dilute-dense approximation of gluon saturation physics, reported striking agreement with the ${v}_{2}$ patterns observed in $p/d/^{3}\mathrm{He}+\mathrm{Au}$ data at RHIC [M. Mace, V. V. Skokov, P. Tribedy, and R. Venugopalan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 052301 (2018)]. The results reported by Mace, Skokov, Tribedy and Venugopalan (MSTV) are counterintuitive and thus we aim here to reproduce some of the basic features of these calculations. In this first investigation, we provide a description of our publicly available model, ip-jazma, and investigate its implications for saturation scales, multiplicity distributions, and eccentricities, reserving for later work the analysis of momentum spectra and azimuthal anisotropies. We find that our implementation of the saturation physics model reproduces the results of the MSTV calculation of the multiplicity distribution in $d+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at RHIC. However, additional aspects of studies, together with existing data, call into question some of the essential elements reported by MSTV. Resolution of these issues will require further developments of ip-jazma, in order to determine if it can replicate the qualitative agreement with the ${v}_{2}$ reported by MSTV. Both the work reported here and future studies will establish which features in the experimental data are uniquely attributable to the color glass condensate description.

Single spin asymmetry in forward pA collisions: Phenomenology at RHIC

We confront the theoretical result of single spin asymmetry (SSA) $A_N$ in forward $pA$ collisions $p^\uparrow A \to hX$ including the gluon saturation effect with the recent preliminary experimental data from the PHENIX and STAR collaborations at RHIC. While we find overall reasonable agreement with the STAR data, our results indicate that the strong nuclear suppression of the asymmetry $A_N\sim A^{-1/3}$ observed by the PHENIX collaboration cannot be explained within the present understanding of this problem.

Exclusive ρ and J/Ψ photoproduction in ultraperipheral pA collisions: Predictions of the gluon saturation models for the momentum transfer distributions

In this letter we complement previous studies on exclusive vector meson photoproduction in hadronic collisions presenting a comprehensive analysis of the t-spectrum measured in exclusive ρ and J/Ψ photoproduction in pA collisions at the LHC. We compute the differential cross sections considering two phenomenological models for the gluon saturation effects and present predictions for pPb and pCa collisions. Moreover, we compare our predictions with the recent preliminary CMS data for the exclusive ρ photoproduction. We demonstrate that the gluon saturation models are able to describe the CMS data at small – t. On the other hand, the models underestimate the few data point at large – t. Our results indicate that future measurements of the large – t region can be useful to probe the presence or absence of a dip in the t-spectrum and discriminate between the different approaches to the gluon saturation effects.

Signature of gluon saturation in forward di-hadron correlations at the Large Hadron Collider

We argue that gluon saturation effects may be visible in Large Hadron Collider (LHC) data. We look at the centrality dependence of the away-side peak of two-particle correlations measured in p-Pb collisions, using both ALICE data at midrapidity, and LHCb data at forward rapidity. Once the collective flow-like signal measured at the near-side peak is removed from the correlation function, the centrality dependence of the away-side peak turns out to be much stronger in the forward region than at midrapidity. We argue that this is a very specific prediction of the saturation framework, and we compare LHCb data to a state-of-the-art calculation within the Color Glass Condensate theory.

Direct photon production at LHCb

At small Bjorken-x, the large gluon number density in the nucleon leads to gluon recombination competing with gluon splitting, which could result in saturation of the gluon PDF. This gluon saturation has yet to be conclusively observed. Direct photon production provides sensitivity to gluon densities in protons and nuclei, and the forward acceptance of LHCb detector allows for measurements of this process at low Bjorken-x, providing an ideal probe of saturation effects. Progress towards the measurement of forward direct photon production using the LHCb detector is presented.

Unified framework for heavy flavor and quarkonium production in high multiplicity p+p and p+A collisions at RHIC and LHC

We discuss the production of D-mesons and J/ψ in high multiplicity proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions within the Color-Glass-Condensate (CGC) framework. We demonstrate that the modification of the LHC data on D and J/ψ yields in high multiplicity events relative to minimum bias events arise from a significant enhancement of the gluon saturation scales of the corresponding rare parton configurations in the colliding protons and nuclei. For a given event multiplicity, we predict these relative yields to be energy independent from s=200GeV at RHIC to the highest LHC energies.

PHENIX study of the initial state with forward hadron measurements in 200 GeV p(d)+A and 3He+Au collisions

Forward hadron measurements in p(d)+A provide a signal to study nuclear shadowing, initial state energy loss and/or gluon saturation effects as a function of rapidity, centrality and energy. High pT identified π0 measurements are an essential first step toward measuring prompt photon production. The π0 measurements are enabled by the PHENIX MPC-EX detector, a Si-W preshower detector located in front of the Muon Piston Calorimeter (MPC), expanding the neutral pion reconstruction capabilities in the rapidity range 3.1 <η < 3.8 out to high energies, E < 80 GeV. Previous PHENIX measurements of punch-through charged hadrons in the muon arms in the rapidity range 1.4 < |η| < 2.2 were significantly improved through the capability of the forward silicon vertex detector (FVTX) to determine the transverse momentum and rapidity with high precision and reject background from secondary hadrons.PHENIX collected d+Au data with the MPC-EX in the 2016 run at sNN=200,62,39and19.6GeV; and p+p and p+Au(Al) data with the FVTX in 2015 at 200 GeV. In this talk, we will present first results for high pTπ0 production from the sNN=200GeV dataset, the status of the prompt photon measurement, as well as charged hadron nuclear modification factors in p+Au(Al) and 3He+Au.

Exclusive vector meson production at an electron-ion collider

Coherent exclusive vector meson electroproduction is a key physics channel at an electron-ion collider. It probes the gluon structure of nuclei over a wide range of $Q^2$, and can be used to measure nuclear shadowing and to search for gluon saturation and/or the colored glass condensate. In this paper, we present calculations of the kinematic distributions for a variety of exclusive vector meson final states: the $\rho$, $\phi$, J/$\psi$, $\psi'$ and the $\Upsilon$ states. The cross-sections for light and $c\overline c$ mesons are large, while $\Upsilon$ states should be produced in moderate numbers at a medium energy EIC (the proposed U.S. designs) and in large numbers at the LHeC. We investigate the acceptances for these states, as a function of detector rapidity coverage. A large-acceptance detector is needed to cover the full range photon-nucleon collision energies produced at an EIC; a forward detector is required to observe vector mesons from the most energetic photon interactions, and thereby probe gluons at the lowest possible Bjorken-$x$ values.

Forward dihadron back-to-back correlations in pA collisions

We study the disappearance of the away-side peak of the di-hadron correlation function in p+A vs p+p collisions at forward rapidities, when the scaterring process presents a manifest dilute-dense asymmetry. We improve the state-of-the-art description of this phenomenon in the framework of the Color Glass Condensate (CGC), for hadrons produced nearly back-to-back. In that case, the gluon content of the saturated nuclear target can be described with transverse-momentum-dependent gluon distributions, whose small-$x$ evolution we calculate numerically by solving the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation with running coupling corrections. We first show that our formalism provides a good description of the disappearance of the away-side azimuthal correlations in d+Au collisions observed at BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) energies. Then, we predict the away-side peak of upcoming p+Au data at $~\sqrt[]{s}=200$ GeV to be suppressed by about a factor 2 with respect to p+p collisions, and we propose to study the rapidity dependence of that suppression as a complementary strong evidence of gluon saturation in experimental data.

Ultra-high energy neutrino-nucleon scattering and gluon saturation

Ultra-high energy neutrinos are an enigma; among their many poorly understood aspects are their origins and how they interact with nucleons when they reach the Earth. Due to the hard scale ([Formula: see text]) involved in neutrino-nucleon scattering and for a large range of neutrino energies, it is appropriate to describe the target nucleon in terms of its partons — quarks and gluons — and their evolution with [Formula: see text] as governed by the Dokshitzer–Gribov–Lipatov–Altarelli–Parisi (DGLAP) evolution equations of perturbative Quantum ChromoDynamics (pQCD). Nevertheless, at the highest neutrino energies, the scattering cross-section is dominated by the contribution of small [Formula: see text] gluons of the target where one expects DGLAP evolution equations to break down due to high gluon density effects (gluon saturation). Here, we give a brief overview of gluon saturation physics in QCD and its effects on ultra-high energy neutrino-nucleon (nucleus) scattering cross-section.

Confronting the impact parameter dependent JIMWLK evolution with HERA data

The small-$x$ evolution of protons is determined from numerical solutions of the JIMWLK equations, starting from an initial condition at moderate $x$ for a finite size proton. The resulting dipole amplitude is used to calculate the total reduced cross section $\sigma_r$ and charm reduced cross section $\sigma_{rc}$, as well as diffractive vector meson production. We compare results to experimental data from HERA and discuss fundamental problems arising from the regime sensitive to non-perturbative physics. We emphasize that information on the gluonic content of the proton, gluon spatial distributions and correlations over wide ranges in $x$, which can in principle be constrained by our study, are essential ingredients for describing the initial state in proton-proton and proton-ion collisions. Future electron nucleus collisions at an electron-ion collider will provide important additional insight for heavier nuclei. We further demonstrate that it is not possible to probe gluon saturation in electron-proton collision at HERA energies and that electron-heavy ion collisions will be essential to access the saturation regime.

On the dihadron angular correlations in forward pA collisions

Dihadron angular correlations in forward pA collisions have been considered as one of the most sensitive observables to the gluon saturation effects. In general, both parton shower effects and saturation effects are responsible for the back-to-back dihadron angular de-correlations. With the recent progress in the saturation formalism, we can incorporate the parton shower effect by adding the corresponding Sudakov factor in the saturation framework. In this paper, we carry out the first detailed numerical study in this regard, and find a very good agreement with previous RHIC pp and dAu data. This study can help us to establish a baseline in pp collisions which contains little saturation effects, and further make predictions for dihadron angular correlations in pAu collisions, which will allow to search for the signal of parton saturation.

Geometrical scaling for energies available at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider to those at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Based on the recent RHIC and LHC experimental results, the $\langle p_T\rangle$ dependence of identified light flavour charged hadrons on $\sqrt{(\frac{dN}{dy})/S_{\perp}}$, relevant scale in gluon saturation picture, is studied from $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=7.7 GeV up to 5.02 TeV. This study is extended to the slopes of the $\langle p_T\rangle$ dependence on the particle mass and the $\langle\beta_T\rangle$ parameter from Boltzmann-Gibbs Blast Wave (BGBW) fits of the $p_T$ spectra. A systematic decrease of the slope of the $\langle p_T\rangle$ dependence on $\sqrt{(\frac{dN}{dy})/S_{\perp}}$ from BES to the LHC energies is evidenced. While for the RHIC energies, within the experimental errors, the $\langle p_T\rangle$/$\sqrt{(\frac{dN}{dy})/S_{\perp}}$ does not depend on centrality, at the LHC energies a deviation from a linear behaviour is observed towards the most central collisions. The influence of the corona contribution to the observed trends is discussed. The slopes of the $\langle p_T\rangle$ particle mass dependence and the $\langle\beta_T\rangle$ parameter from BGBW fits scale well with $\sqrt{(\frac{dN}{dy})/S_{\perp}}$. Similar systematic trends for pp at $\sqrt{s}$=7 TeV are in a good agreement with the ones corresponding to Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=2.76 TeV and 5.02 TeV pointing to a system size independent behaviour.

Coherent and incoherent production of vector mesons in ultraperipheral collisions of xenon ions within the QCD parton saturation approach

In this paper, we analyze the exclusive vector meson photoproduction in the recent run using xenon ions at energy of 5.44 TeV performed by the Large Hadron Collider. We focus on the ultraperipheral collisions and provide theoretical predictions for coherent and incoherent cross sections within the color dipole approach and gluon saturation framework. The rapidity distribution is investigated in both cases and comparison to other approaches available in the literature is completed. We show that the expected yields are enough to perform reliable cross section measurements for light mesons as ${\ensuremath{\rho}}^{0}$ and $\ensuremath{\phi}$.

TMD gluon distributions at small x in the CGC theory

In this paper, we review recent progress in the description of unpolarized transverse-momentum-dependent (TMD) gluon distributions at small [Formula: see text] in the color glass condensate (CGC) effective theory. We discuss the origin of the nonuniversality of TMD gluon distributions in the TMD factorization framework and in the CGC theory and the equivalence of the two approaches in their overlapping domain of validity. We show some applications of this equivalence, including recent results on the behavior of TMD gluon distributions at small [Formula: see text], and on the study of gluon saturation. We discuss recent advances in the unification of the TMD evolution and the nonlinear small-[Formula: see text] evolution of gluon distributions.

Inclusive Prompt Photons from the Color Glass Condensate at NLO

The cross-section for photons radiated by quarks in proton-nucleus collisions at collider energies was obtained using the Color Glass Condensate framework, in the dense-dilute kinematics regime. We observe that the inclusive photon cross-section is proportional to all-twist Wilson line correlators in the nucleus. These correlators also appear in quark-pair production; unlike the latter, photon production is insensitive to hadronization uncertainties and therefore more sensitive to multi-parton correlations in the gluon saturation regime of QCD.

Systematics of strong nuclear amplification of gluon saturation from exclusive vector meson production in high energy electron–nucleus collisions

We show that gluon saturation gives rise to a strong modification of the scaling in both the nuclear mass number A and the virtuality Q2 of the vector meson production cross-section in exclusive deep-inelastic scattering off nuclei. We present qualitative analytic expressions for how the scaling exponents are modified as well as quantitative predictions that can be tested at an Electron–Ion Collider.