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Edmond Iancu

Publications and source records attributed to Edmond Iancu.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2003

Rare fluctuations and the high-energy limit of the S-matrix in QCD

We argue that one cannot correctly calculate the elastic scattering S-matrix for high-energy dipole-dipole scattering, in the region where S is small, without taking fluctuations into account. The relevant fluctuations are rare and unimportant for general properties of inelastic collisions. We find that the Kovchegov equation, while giving the form of the S-matrix correctly, gives the exponential factor twice as large as the result which emerges when fluctuations are taken into account.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2003

The Color Glass Condensate and High Energy Scattering in QCD

At very high energies or small values of Bjorken x, the density of partons, per unit transverse area, in hadronic wavefunctions becomes very large leading to a saturation of partonic distributions. When the scale corresponding to the density per unit transverse area, the saturation scale Q_s, becomes large (Q_s\gg Λ_{QCD}), the coupling constant becomes weak (α_S(Q_s)\ll 1) which suggests that the high energy limit of QCD may be studied using weak coupling techniques. This simple idea can be formalized in an effective theory, the Color Glass Condensate (CGC), which describes the behavior of the small x components of the hadronic wavefunction in QCD. The Green functions of the theory satisfy Wilsonian renormalization group equations which reduce to the standard linear QCD evolution equations in the limit of low parton densities. The effective theory has a rich structure that has been explored using analytical and numerical techniques. The CGC can be applied to study a wide range of high energy scattering experiments from Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA and the proposed Electron Ion Collider (EIC) to proton/deuterium-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus experiments at the RHIC and LHC colliders.

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arXiv2003

Renormalizability of Phi-derivable approximations in scalar phi^4 theory

We discuss the renormalizability of Phi-derivable approximations in scalar phi^4 theory in four dimensions. The formalism leads to self-consistent equations for the 2-point and the 4-point functions which are plagued by ultraviolet divergences. Through a detailed analysis of the one and two-loop self-energy skeletons, we show that both equations can be renormalized simultaneously and determine the corresponding counterterms. These insure the elimination of ultraviolet divergences both at zero and finite temperature.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2002

The Colour Glass Condensate

I review the physical and mathematical foundations for the theoretical description of the hadron wavefunction at small $x$ as a Colour Glass Condensate. In this context, I discuss the phenomenon of gluon saturation and some of its remarkable consequences: a new ``geometric scaling'' for $F_2$, which has been recently identified at HERA, and the unitarization of the hadronic cross-sections at high energy. I show that by combining saturation and confinement one obtains cross-sections which saturate the Froissart bound.

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arXiv2002

A Gaussian effective theory for gluon saturation

We construct a Gaussian approximation to the effective theory for the Colour Glass Condensate which describes correctly the gluon distribution both in the low density regime at high transverse momenta (above the saturation scale $Q_s$), and in the high density regime below $Q_s$, and provides a simple interpolation between these two regimes. At high momenta, the effective theory reproduces the BFKL dynamics, while at low momenta, it exhibits gluon saturation and, related to it, colour neutrality over the short distance scale $1/Q_s \ll 1/Λ_{QCD}$. Gauge--invariant quantities computed within this approximation are automatically infrared finite.

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arXiv2002

The Colour Glass Condensate

I briefly review the physical picture of the saturated gluons at small-x as a Colour Glass Condensate, and the effective theory which forms the basis of this picture.

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arXiv2002

The Colour Glass Condensate: An Introduction

In these lectures, we develop the theory of the Colour Glass Condensate. This is the matter made of gluons in the high density environment characteristic of deep inelastic scattering or hadron-hadron collisions at very high energy. The lectures are self contained and comprehensive. They start with a phenomenological introduction, develop the theory of classical gluon fields appropriate for the Colour Glass, and end with a derivation and discussion of the renormalization group equations which determine this effective theory.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2001

Gluon Saturation at small x

At very high energies, the relevant component of the hadron wavefunction can be described as a Color Glass Condensate, i.e., a state of high density gluonic matter whose distribution is random, but frozen over the relevant time scales. The weight function for this distribution obeys a renormalization group equation in the form of a functional Fokker-Planck equation. Its solution leads to an effective theory which predicts gluon saturation at sufficiently high energy, or small Bjorken's $x$.

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arXiv2001

Nonlinear Gluon Evolution in the Color Glass Condensate: II

We complete the construction of the renormalization group equation (RGE) for the Color Glass Condenstate begun in Paper I. This is the equation which governs the evolution with rapidity of the statistical weight function for the color glass field. The coefficients in this equation --- one-loop real and virtual contributions --- are computed explicitly, to all orders in the color glass field. The resulting RGE can be interpreted as the imaginary-time evolution equation, with rapidity as the ``imaginary time'', for a quantum field theory in two spatial dimensions. In the weak field limit it reduces to the BFKL equation. In the general non-linear case, it is equivalent to an equation by Weigert which summarizes in functional form the evolution equations for Wilson line operators previously derived by Balitsky and Kovchegov.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2001

Saturation and Universality in QCD at small x

We find approximate solutions to the renormalization group equation which governs the quantum evolution of the effective theory for the Color Glass Condensate. This is a functional Fokker-Planck equation which generates in particular the non-linear evolution equations previously derived by Balitsky and Kovchegov within perturbative QCD. In the limit where the transverse momentum of the external probe is large compared to the saturation momentum, our approximations yield the Gaussian Ansatz for the effective action of the McLerran-Venugopalan model. In the opposite limit, of a small external momentum, we find that the effective theory is governed by a scale-invariant universal action which has the correct properties to describe gluon saturation.

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arXiv2001

The Quark-Gluon Plasma: Collective Dynamics and Hard Thermal Loops

We present a unified description of the high temperature phase of QCD, the so-called quark-gluon plasma, in a regime where the effective gauge coupling $g$ is sufficiently small to allow for weak coupling calculations. The main focuss is the construction of the effective theory for the collective excitations which develop at a typical scale $gT$, which is well separated from the typical energy of single particle excitations which is the temperature $T$. We show that the plasma particles provide a source for long wavelength oscillations of average fields which carry the quantum numbers of the plasma constituents, the quarks and the gluons. To leading order in $g$, the plasma particles obey simple gauge-covariant kinetic equations, whose derivation from the general Dyson-Schwinger equations is outlined. As a by-product, the ``hard thermal loops'' emerge naturally in a physically transparent framework. We show that the collective excitations can be described in terms of classical fields, and develop for these a Hamiltonian formalism. The effect of collisions among the hard particles is also studied, in particular in relation with the effective theory for ultrasoft excitations, with momenta $\sim g^2T$.

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arXiv2000

Nonlinear Gluon Evolution in the Color Glass Condensate: I

We consider a nonlinear evolution equation recently proposed to describe the small-$x$ hadronic physics in the regime of very high gluon density. This is a functional Fokker-Planck equation in terms of a classical random color source, which represents the color charge density of the partons with large $x$. In the saturation regime of interest, the coefficients of this equation must be known to all orders in the source strength. In this first paper of a series of two, we carefully derive the evolution equation, via a matching between classical and quantum correlations, and set up the framework for the exact background source calculation of its coefficients. We address and clarify many of the subtleties and ambiguities which have plagued past attempts at an explicit construction of this equation. We also introduce the physical interpretation of the saturation regime at small $x$ as a Color Glass Condensate. In the second paper we shall evaluate the expressions derived here, and compare them to known results in various limits.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2000

The Colored Glass Condensate and Extreme QCD

The high energy limit of QCD is controlled by the small-$x$ part of a hadron wavefunction. I argue that this part is universal to all hadrons and is composed of a new form of matter: a Colored Glass Condensate. This matter is weakly interacting at very small $x$, but is non-perturbative because of the highly occupied boson states which compose the condensate. Such a matter might be studied in high energy lepton-hadron or hadron-hadron interactions.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2000

Small x, Saturation and the High Energy Limit of QCD

The high energy limit of QCD is controlled by the small-$x$ part of a hadron wavefunction. We argue that this part is universal to all hadrons and is composed of a new form of matter: a Colored Glass Condensate. This matter is weakly interacting at very small $x$, but is non-perturbative because of the highly occupied boson states which compose the condensate. Such a matter might be studied in high energy lepton-hadron or hadron-hadron interactions.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1999

Ultrasoft Amplitudes in Hot QCD

By using the Boltzmann equation describing the relaxation of colour excitations in the QCD plasma, we obtain effective amplitudes for the ultrasoft colour fields carrying momenta of order $g^2 T$. These amplitudes are of the same order in $g$ as the hard thermal loops (HTL), which they generalize by including the effects of the collisions among the hard particles. The ultrasoft amplitudes share many of the remarkable properties of the HTL's: they are gauge invariant, obey simple Ward identities, and, in the static limit, reduce to the usual Debye mass for the electric fields. However, unlike the HTL's, which correspond effectively to one-loop diagrams, the ultrasoft amplitudes resum an infinite number of diagrams of the bare perturbation theory. By solving the linearized Boltzmann equation, we obtain a formula for the colour conductivity which accounts for the contributions of the hard and soft modes beyond the leading logarithmic approximation.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1999

A Boltzmann Equation for the QCD Plasma

We present a derivation of a Boltzmann equation for the QCD plasma, starting from the quantum field equations. The derivation is based on a gauge covariant gradient expansion which takes consistently into account all possible dependences on the gauge coupling assumed to be small. We point out a limitation of the gradient expansion arising when the range of the interactions becomes comparable with that of the space-time inhomogeneities of the system. The method is first applied to the case of scalar electrodynamics, and then to the description of long wavelength colour fluctuations in the QCD plasma. In the latter case, we recover Bödeker's effective theory and its recent reformulation by Arnold, Son and Yaffe. We discuss interesting cancellations among various collision terms, which occur in the calculation of most transport coefficients, but not in that of the quasiparticle lifetime, or in that of the relaxation time of colour excitations.

hep-ph↗
arXiv1999

Non-perturbative aspects of hot QCD

I discuss some non-perturbative aspects of hot gauge theories as related to the unscreened static magnetic interactions. I first review some of the infrared divergences which cause the breakdown of the perturbation theory. Then I show that kinetic theory, as derived from quantum field theory, is a powerful tool to construct effective theories for the soft modes, which then can be treated non-perturbatively. The effective theory at the scale $gT$ follows from a collisionless kinetic equation, of the Vlasov type. The effective theory at the scale $g^2T$ is generated by a Boltzmann equation which includes the collision term for colour relaxation.

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