arXiv subjects

E. Iancu

Publications and source records attributed to E. Iancu.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2006

Diffusive scaling and the high-energy limit of deep inelastic scattering in QCD at large N_c

Within the limits of the large-N_c approximation (with N_c the number of colors), we establish the high-energy behaviour of the diffractive and inclusive cross-sections for deep inelastic scattering at fixed impact parameter. We demonstrate that for sufficiently high energies and up to very large values of Q^2, well above the proton average saturation momentum , the cross-sections are dominated by dense fluctuations in the target wavefunction, that is, by the relatively rare gluon configurations which are at saturation on the resolution scale Q^2 of the virtual photon. This has important physical consequences, like the emergence of a new, diffusive, scaling, which replaces the `geometric scaling' property characteristic of the mean field approximation. To establish this, we shall rely on a dipole version of the Good-Walker formula for diffraction (that we shall derive here in the context of DIS), together with the high-energy estimates for the dipole scattering amplitudes which follow from the recently established evolution equations with Pomeron loops and include the relevant fluctuations. We also find that, as a consequence of fluctuations, the diffractive cross-section at high energy is dominated by the elastic scattering of the quark-antiquark component of the virtual photon, up to relatively large virtualities Q^2 >> .

hep-ph↗

arXiv2006

Forward gluon production in hadron-hadron scattering with Pomeron loops

We discuss new physical phenomena expected in particle production in hadron-hadron collisions at high energy, as a consequence of Pomeron loop effects in the evolution equations for the Color Glass Condensate. We focus on gluon production in asymmetric, `dilute-dense', collisions : a dilute projectile scatters off a dense hadronic target, whose gluon distribution is highly evolved. This situation is representative for particle production in proton-proton collisions at forward rapidities (say, at LHC) and admits a dipole factorization similar to that of deep inelastic scattering (DIS). We show that at sufficiently large forward rapidities, where the Pomeron loop effects become important in the evolution of the target wavefunction, gluon production is dominated by `black spots' (saturated gluon configurations) up to very large values of the transverse momentum, well above the average saturation momentum in the target. In this regime, the produced gluon spectrum exhibits diffusive scaling, so like DIS at sufficiently high energy.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

From high-energy QCD to statistical physics

I discuss recent progress in understanding the high-energy evolution in QCD, which points towards a remarkable correspondence with the reaction-diffusion problem of statistical physics. This enables us to determine the asymptotic behaviour of the scattering amplitudes in QCD.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Pomerons loops and duality in high energy QCD

I discuss the physical picture underlying the evolution equations with Pomeron loops recently derived in multicolor QCD at high energy and qualitatively explain the notion of `self-duality'.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

On the Probabilistic Interpretation of the Evolution Equations with Pomeron Loops in QCD

We study some structural aspects of the evolution equations with Pomeron loops recently derived in QCD at high energy and for a large number of colors, with the purpose of clarifying their probabilistic interpretation. We show that, in spite of their appealing dipolar structure and of the self-duality of the underlying Hamiltonian, these equations cannot be given a meaningful interpretation in terms of a system of dipoles which evolves through dissociation (one dipole splitting into two) and recombination (two dipoles merging into one). The problem comes from the saturation effects, which cannot be described as dipole recombination, not even effectively. We establish this by showing that a (probabilistically meaningful) dipolar evolution in either the target or the projectile wavefunction cannot reproduce the actual evolution equations in QCD.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Effective Hamiltonian for QCD evolution at high energy

We construct the effective Hamiltonian which governs the renormalization group flow of the gluon distribution with increasing energy and in the leading logarithmic approximation. This Hamiltonian defines a two-dimensional field theory which involves two types of Wilson lines: longitudinal Wilson lines which describe gluon recombination (or merging) and temporal Wilson lines which account for gluon bremsstrahlung (or splitting). The Hamiltonian is self-dual, i.e., it is invariant under the exchange of the two types of Wilson lines. In the high density regime where one can neglect gluon number fluctuations, the general Hamiltonian reduces to that for the JIMWLK evolution. In the dilute regime where gluon recombination becomes unimportant, it reduces to the dual partner of the JIMWLK Hamiltonian, which describes bremsstrahlung.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Color dipoles from Bremsstrahlung in QCD evolution at high energy

We show that the recently developed Hamiltonian theory for high energy evolution in QCD in the dilute regime and in the presence of Bremsstrahlung is consistent with the color dipole picture in the limit where the number of colors N_c is large. The color dipoles are quark-antiquark pairs which can radiate arbitrarily many soft gluons, and the evolution consists in the splitting of any such a dipole into two. We construct the color glass weight function of an onium as a superposition of color dipoles, each represented by a pair of Wilson lines. We show that the action of the Bremsstrahlung Hamiltonian on this weight function and in the large-N_c limit generates the evolution expected from the dipole picture. We construct the dipole number operator in the Hamiltonian theory and deduce the evolution equations for the dipole densities, which are again consistent with the dipole picture. We argue that the Bremsstrahlung effects beyond two gluon emission per dipole are irrelevant for the calculation of scattering amplitudes at high energy.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Duality and Pomeron effective theory for QCD at high energy and large N_c

We propose an effective theory which governs Pomeron dynamics in QCD at high energy, in the leading logarithmic approximation, and in the limit where N_c, the number of colors, is large. In spite of its remarkably simple structure, this effective theory generates precisely the evolution equations for scattering amplitudes that have been recently deduced from a more complete microscopic analysis. It accounts for the BFKL evolution of the Pomerons together with their interactions: dissociation (one Pomeron splitting into two) and recombination (two Pomerons merging into one). It is constructed by exploiting a duality principle relating the evolutions in the target and the projectile, more precisely, splitting and merging processes, or fluctuations in the dilute regime and saturation effects in the dense regime. The simplest Pomeron loop calculated with the effective theory is free of both ultraviolet or infrared singularities.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Non-linear QCD evolution with improved triple-pomeron vertices

In a previous publication, we have constructed a set of non-linear evolution equations for dipole scattering amplitudes in QCD at high energy, which extends the Balitsky-JIMWLK hierarchy by including the effects of fluctuations in the gluon number in the target wavefunction. In doing so, we have relied on the color dipole picture, valid in the limit where the number of colors is large, and we have made some further approximations on the relation between scattering amplitudes and dipole densities, which amount to neglecting the non-locality of the two-gluon exchanges. In this Letter, we relax the latter approximations, and thus restore the correct structure of the `triple-pomeron vertex' which describes the splitting of one BFKL pomeron into two within the terms responsible for fluctuations. The ensuing triple-pomeron vertex coincides with the one previously derived by Braun and Vacca within perturbative QCD. The evolution equations can be recast in a Langevin form, but with a multivariable noise term with off-diagonal correlations. Our equations are shown to be equivalent with the modified version of the JIMWLK equation recently proposed by Mueller, Shoshi, and Wong.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2005

Odderon in the Color Glass Condensate

We discuss the definition and the energy evolution of scattering amplitudes with $C$-odd ("odderon") quantum numbers within the effective theory for the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) endowed with the functional, JIMWLK, evolution equation. We explicitly construct gauge-invariant amplitudes describing multiple odderon exchanges in the scattering between the CGC and two types of projectiles: a color--singlet quark--antiquark pair (or `color dipole') and a system of three quarks in a colorless state. We deduce the energy evolution of these amplitudes from the general JIMWLK equation, which for this purpose is recast in a more synthetic form, which is manifestly infrared finite. For the dipole odderon, we confirm and extend the non--linear evolution equations recently proposed by Kovchegov, Szymanowski and Wallon, which couple the evolution of the odderon to that of the pomeron, and predict the rapid suppression of the odderon exchanges in the saturation regime at high energy. For the 3--quark system, we focus on the linear regime at relatively low energy, where our general equations are shown to reduce to the Bartels--Kwiecinski--Praszalowicz equation. Our gauge--invariant amplitudes, and the associated evolution equations, stay explicitly outside the Möbius representation, which is the Hilbert space where the BFKL Hamiltonian exhibits holomorphic separability.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Universal behavior of QCD amplitudes at high energy from general tools of statistical physics

We show that high energy scattering is a statistical process essentially similar to reaction-diffusion in a system made of a finite number of particles. The Balitsky-JIMWLK equations correspond to the time evolution law for the particle density. The squared strong coupling constant plays the role of the minimum particle density. Discreteness is related to the finite number of partons one may observe in a given event and has a sizeable effect on physical observables. Using general tools developed recently in statistical physics, we derive the universal terms in the rapidity dependence of the saturation scale and the scaling form of the amplitude, which come as the leading terms in a large rapidity and small coupling expansion.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

A Langevin equation for high energy evolution with pomeron loops

We show that the Balitsky-JIMWLK equations proposed to describe non-linear evolution in QCD at high energy fail to include the effects of fluctuations in the gluon number, and thus to correctly describe both the low density regime and the approach towards saturation. On the other hand, these fluctuations are correctly encoded (in the limit where the number of colors is large) in Mueller's color dipole picture, which however neglects saturation. By combining the dipole picture at low density with the JIMWLK evolution at high density, we construct a generalization of the Balitsky hierarchy which includes the particle number fluctuations, and thus the pomeron loops. After an additional coarse-graining in impact parameter space, this hierarchy is shown to reduce to a Langevin equation in the universality class of the stochastic Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piscounov (sFKPP) equation. This equation implies that the non-linear effects in the evolution become important already in the high momentum regime where the average density is small, which signals the breakdown of the BFKL approximation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2004

Cronin effect and high-p_T suppression in the nuclear gluon distribution at small x

We present a systematic, and fully analytic, study of the ratio R_{pA} between the gluon distribution in a nucleus and that in a proton scaled up by the atomic number A. We consider initial conditions of the McLerran-Venugopalan type, and quantum evolution in the Color Glass Condensate, with both fixed and running coupling. We perform an analytic study of the Cronin effect in the initial conditions and point out an interesting difference between saturating effects and twist effects in the nuclear gluon distribution. We show that the distribution of the gluons which make up the condensate in the initial conditions is localized at low momenta, but this particular feature does not survive after the quantum evolution. We demonstrate that the rapid suppression of the ratio R_{pA} in the early stages of the evolution is due to the DGLAP-like evolution of the proton, whose gluon distribution grows much faster than that in the nucleus because of the large separation between the respective saturation momenta. The flattening of the Cronin peak, on the other hand, is due to the evolution of the nucleus. We show that the running coupling effects slow down the evolution, but eventually lead to a stronger suppression in R_{pA} at sufficiently large energies.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Saturation and BFKL dynamics in the HERA data at small x

We show that the HERA data for the inclusive structure function F_2(x,Q^2) for x < 0.01 and 0.045 < Q^2 < 45 GeV^2 can be well described within the color dipole picture, with a simple analytic expression for the dipole-proton scattering amplitude, which is an approximate solution to the non-linear evolution equations in QCD. For dipole sizes less than the inverse saturation momentum 1/Q_s(x), the scattering amplitude is the solution to the BFKL equation in the vicinity of the saturation line. It exhibits geometric scaling and scaling violations by the diffusion term. For dipole sizes larger than 1/Q_s(x), the scattering amplitude saturates to one. The fit involves three parameters: the proton radius R, the value x_0 of x at which the saturation scale Q_s equals 1GeV, and the logarithmic derivative of the saturation momentum λ. The value of λextracted from the fit turns out to be consistent with a recent calculation using the next-to-leading order BFKL formalism.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

From Color Glass to Color Dipoles in high-energy onium--onium scattering

Within the Color Glass formalism, we construct the wavefunction of a high energy onium in the BFKL and large-N_c approximations, and demonstrate the equivalence with the corresponding result in the Color Dipole picture. We propose a simple factorization formula for the elastic scattering between two non-saturated ``color glasses'' in the center-of-mass frame. This is valid up to energies which are high enough to allow for a study of the onset of unitarization via multiple pomeron exchanges. When applied to the high energy onium-onium scattering, this formula reduces to the Glauber-like scattering between two systems of dipoles, in complete agreement with the dipole picture.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

On the Apparent Convergence of Perturbative QCD at High Temperature

The successive perturbative estimates of the pressure of QCD at high temperature T show no sign of convergence, unless the coupling constant g is unrealistically small. Exploiting known results of an effective field theory which separates hard (order 2 pi T) and soft (order gT) contributions, we explore the accuracy of simple resummations which at a given loop order systematically treat hard contributions strictly perturbatively, but soft contributions without truncations. This turns out to improve significantly the two-loop and the three-loop results in that both remain below the ideal-gas value, and the degree of renormalization scale dependence decreases as one goes from two to three loop order, whereas it increases in the conventional perturbative results. Including the four-loop logarithms recently obtained by Kajantie et al., we find that this trend continues and that with a particular sublogarithmic constant the untruncated four-loop result is close to the three-loop result, which itself agrees well with available lattice results down to temperatures of about 2.5 T_c. We also investigate the possibility of optimization by using a variational (``screened'') perturbation theory in the effective theory. At two loops, this gives a result below the ideal gas value, and also closer to lattice results than the recent two-loop hard-thermal-loop-screened result of Andersen et al. While at three-loop order the gap equation of dimensionally reduced screened perturbation theory does not have a solution in QCD, this is remedied upon inclusion of the four-loop logarithms.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2003

Thermodynamics of the high-temperature quark-gluon plasma

We review the various methods which have been employed recently to describe the thermodynamics of the high temperature quark-gluon plasma using weak coupling techniques, and we compare their results with those of most recent lattice gauge calculations. Many of the difficulties encountered with perturbation theory at finite temperature are in fact not specific to QCD but are present in any field theory at finite temperature and will be discussed first in the simple example of the scalar field theory. We discuss the merits and limitations of various techniques which have been used to go beyond perturbation theory in the soft sector, such as dimensional reduction, screened perturbation theory or hard-thermal-loop perturbation theory, and Phi-derivable approximations. In the last part of the review, we focus on the later, which lead to a remarkably simple expression for the entropy of the quark-gluon plasma. When complemented with further, physically motivated, approximations, this approach reproduces accurately the entropy obtained from lattice gauge calculations at temperatures above 2.5 T_c, where T_c is the deconfinement temperature. This calculation thus provides also support to the physical picture of the quark-gluon plasma as a gas of weakly interacting quasiparticles.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2002

An influence functional for ultrasoft QCD

A real-time path integral for ultrasoft QCD is formulated. It exhibits a Feynman's influence functional. The statistical properties of the theory and the gauge symmetry are explicit. The correspondence is established with the alternative version, where a noise term enters a transport equation.

hep-ph↗