Searcharxiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2603.24964

Photon production from gluon splitting and fusion induced by a magnetic field in heavy-ion collisions

Alejandro Ayala·Santiago Bernal-Langarica·José Jorge Medina-Serna·Ana Julia Mizher
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

In heavy-ion collisions, an excess in photon production, together with a larger than expected positive elliptic flow, has been observed, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the direct photon puzzle. In this work we study the mechanism of photon production arising from gluon splitting and fusion during the pre-equilibrium stage in the presence of magnetic fields in peripheral heavy-ion collisions. We begin by analyzing the general tensor structure of the two-gluon one-photon vertex, computing it at the one-loop level for magnetic fields of arbitrary strength without resorting to additional approximations. Using these expressions, we calculate the contribution of gluon fusion and splitting to the photon yield, revealing that splitting dominates over fusion at low photon energies. Our results are compared with experimental data from the PHENIX collaboration. Finally, we incorporate a longitudinal anisotropy into the initial gluon distribution and find that it does not significantly alter the photon yield compared to an isotropic distribution.

Explore related subjects

hep-phnucl-th

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Alejandro Ayala, Santiago Bernal-Langarica, José Jorge Medina-Serna, Ana Julia Mizher. 2026-03-26. Photon production from gluon splitting and fusion induced by a magnetic field in heavy-ion collisions. https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.24964

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Axionic Wormholes in Metric-Affine Gravity

The axion is a promising candidate for solving the strong CP problem. To solve this problem, the global U(1) symmetry must be preserved to a high degree of accuracy. However, it is well known that global symmetries are explicitly violated by quantum gravity effects, giving rise to what is referred to as the axion quality problem. In this paper, we investigate axionic wormholes as a source of explicit U(1) violation in Metric-Affine Gravity. This framework allows for spacetime torsion and non-metricity, which accommodate additional curvature-like and topological terms, such as the Holst and Nieh--Yan terms, that are absent from the metric and Palatini formalisms. We show that non-minimal couplings to these terms modify the wormhole dynamics and enhance the Euclidean wormhole action, thereby alleviating the axion quality problem. We also find that the viable parameter space is enlarged when two of these couplings are simultaneously present. We further identify representative parameter regions where the alleviation of the axion quality problem is compatible with inflationary constraints.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2026

Qubit-Qutrit Quantum Tomography of hadronic $\Lambda\phi$ and $\Lambda K^{\ast 0}$ systems

Quantum-information observables have emerged in recent years as new tools in nuclear and particle physics, from entanglement in top-quark pairs to spin correlations in $\Lambda\bar{\Lambda}$ production. Extending these studies to unequal-spin hadronic final states poses a fundamental challenge: the $6\times6$ density matrix of a qubit-qutrit system contains 35 independent spin parameters, but the decays of $\Lambda V$ pairs, with $V=\phi$ or $K^{*0}$, provide access to only 23 due to the hidden vector polarization from the strong decay. In this Letter, we formulate a qubit-qutrit quantum tomography (QQQT) technique for these spin-$\tfrac{1}{2}\otimes1$ systems and establish exact criteria for entanglement certification from the \textit{incomplete} density matrix. Compared with the $\Lambda\bar{\Lambda}$ system, QQQT of $\Lambda\phi$ and $\Lambda K^{*0}$ provides a new probe of nonperturbative QCD hadronization, enabling a direct comparison of the spin evolution of entangled quark pairs produced from the vacuum as they hadronize into a baryon or a vector meson.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2026

Twist decomposition of exclusive heavy meson production cross sections

We study the twist decomposition of the total cross sections for exclusive heavy vector meson electroproduction and photoproduction in the $\gamma^\ast p$ processes, within the leading logarithmic $1/x$ BFKL formalism. The Mellin transforms of the impact factors of the vector meson are calculated. We show that the higher twist contributions are strongly suppressed in the low-$x$ kinematical regime. Possible enhancement of the higher twists effects for nuclei targets is discussed.

hep-ph↗