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Javier L. Albacete

Publications and source records attributed to Javier L. Albacete.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2019

Initial correlations of the Glasma energy-momentum tensor

We present an analytical calculation of the covariance of the energy-momentum tensor associated to the gluon field produced in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions at early times, the Glasma. This object involves the two-point and single-point correlators of the energy-momentum tensor ($\langle T^{μν}(x_{\perp})T^{σρ}(y_{\perp})\rangle$ and $\langle T^{μν}(x_{\perp})\rangle$, respectively) at proper time $τ\!=\!0^+$. Our approach is based on the Color Glass Condensate effective theory, which allows us to map the fluctuations of the valence color sources in the colliding nuclei to those of the energy-momentum tensor of the produced gluon fields via the solution of the classical equations of motion in the presence of external currents. The color sources in the two colliding nuclei are characterized by Gaussian correlations, albeit in more generality than in the McLerran-Venugopalan model, allowing for non-trivial impact parameter and transverse dependence of the two-point correlator. We compare our results to those obtained under the Glasma Graph approximation, finding agreement in the limit of short transverse separations. However, important differences arise at larger transverse separations, where our result displays a slower fall-off than the Glasma Graph result ($r^{-2}$ vs $r^{-4}$ power-law decay), indicating that the color screening of the correlations in the transverse plane occurs at distances larger than $1/Q_s$ by a logarithmic factor sensitive to the infrared. In the Glasma flux tube picture, this implies that the color domains are larger than originally estimated.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

Correlated gluonic hot spots meet symmetric cumulants data at LHC energies

We present a systematic study on the influence of spatial correlations between the proton constituents, in our case gluonic hot spots, their size and their number on the symmetric cumulant SC(2,3), at the eccentricity level, within a Monte Carlo Glauber framework [1]. When modeling the proton as composed by 3 gluonic hot spots, the most common assumption in the literature, we find that the inclusion of spatial correlations is indispensable to reproduce the negative sign of SC(2,3) in the highest centrality bins as dictated by data. Further, the subtle interplay between the different scales of the problem is discussed. To conclude, the possibility of feeding a 2+1D viscous hydrodynamic simulation with our entropy profiles is exposed.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

Forward di-hadron back-to-back correlations in $\boldsymbol{pA}$ collisions from rcBK evolution

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.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2018

Symmetric cumulants as a probe of the proton substructure at LHC energies

We present a systematic study of the normalized symmetric cumulants, NSC(n,m), at the eccentricity level in proton-proton interactions at $\sqrt s\!=\! 13$ TeV within a wounded hot spot approach. We focus our attention on the influence of spatial correlations between the proton constituents, in our case gluonic hot spots, on this observable. We notice that the presence of short-range repulsive correlations between the hot spots systematically decreases the values of NSC(2,3) and NSC(2,4) in mid-to-ultra central collisions while increases them in peripheral interactions. In the case of NSC(2,3) we find that, as suggested by data, an anti-correlation of $\varepsilon_2$ and $\varepsilon_3$ in ultra-central collisions, i.e. NSC(2,3)$<0$, is possible within the correlated scenario while it never occurs without correlations. We attribute this fact to the decisive role of correlations on enlarging the probability of interaction topologies that reduce the value of NSC(2,3) and, eventually, make it negative. Further, we explore the dependence of our conclusions on the values of the hot spot radius and the repulsive core distance. Our results add evidence to the idea that considering spatial correlations between the subnucleonic degrees of freedom of the proton may have a strong impact on the initial state properties of proton-proton interactions [1].

hep-ph↗
arXiv2017

Correlated wounded hot spots in proton-proton interactions

We investigate the effect of non-trivial spatial correlations between proton constituents, considered in this work to be gluonic hot spots, on the initial conditions of proton-proton collisions from ISR to LHC energies, i.e. $\sqrt s\!=\!52.6,7000,13000$ GeV. The inclusion of these correlations is motivated by their fundamental role in the description of a recently observed new feature of $pp$ scattering at $\sqrt s\!=\!7$ TeV, the hollowness effect. Our analysis relies on a Monte-Carlo Glauber approach including fluctuations in the hot spot positions and their entropy deposition in the transverse plane. We explore both the energy dependence and the effect of spatial correlations on the number of wounded hot spots, their spatial distribution and the eccentricities, $\varepsilon_n$, of the initial state geometry of the collision. In minimum bias collisions we find that the inclusion of short range repulsive correlations between the hot spots reduces the value of the eccentricity ($\varepsilon_2$) and the triangularity ($\varepsilon_3$). In turn, upon considering only the events with the highest entropy deposition i.e. the ultra-central ones, the probability of having larger $\varepsilon_{2,3}$ increases significantly in the correlated scenario. Finally, the eccentricities show a quite mild energy dependence.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2016

Hot spots and the hollowness of proton-proton interactions at high energies

We present a dynamical explanation of the hollowness effect observed in proton-proton scattering at $\sqrt s\!=\!7$ TeV. This phenomenon, not observed at lower energies, consists in a depletion of the inelasticity density at zero impact parameter of the collision. Our analysis is based on three main ingredients: we rely gluonic hot spots inside the proton as effective degrees of freedom for the description of the scattering process. Next we assume that some non-trivial correlation between the transverse positions of the hot spots inside the proton exists. Finally we build the scattering amplitude from a multiple scattering, Glauber-like series of collisions between hot spots. In our approach, the onset of the hollowness effect is naturally explained as due to the diffusion or growth of the hot spots in the transverse plane with increasing collision energy.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2016

Ultra-forward particle production from CGC+Lund fragmentation

We present an analysis of data on single inclusive pion production measured by the LHCf collaboration in high-energy proton-proton and proton-nucleus at ultra-forward rapidities, $8.8 \leq\! y\leq \!10.8$. We also analyse forward RHIC data for calibration purposes. Our analysis relies on the use of a Monte Carlo event generator that combines a perturbative description of the elementary scattering process at partonic level based on the hybrid formalism of the Color Glass Condensate with an implementation of hadronization in the framework of the Lund string fragmentation model. This procedure allows us to reach values of the momenta of the produced particles as low as detected experimentally $p_t\sim0.1$ GeV. We achieve a good description of single inclusive spectra of charged particles and neutral pions at RHIC and the LHC respectively, and nuclear modification factors for proton-lead collisions at the LHC. Our results add evidence to the idea that particle production in the domain of very small Bjorken-$x$ is dominated by the saturation effects encoded in the unintegrated gluon distribution of the target. Being forward particle production of key importance in the development of air showers, we stress that this approach allows for a theoretically controlled extrapolation of our results to the scale of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, thus serving as starting point for future works on this topic.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2015

Resummation of double collinear logs in BK evolution versus HERA data

We present a global fit to HERA data on the reduced cross section measured in electron-proton collisions in the region of small Bjorken-$x$: $x\le x_0=10^{-2}$ and moderate to high values of the virtuality $Q^2<Q^2_{max}=650$ GeV$^2$. The main dynamical ingredients in the fits are two recently proposed improved BK equations for the description of the small-$x$ evolution of the dipole scattering amplitude. These two new equations provide an all-order resummation of double collinear logarithms that arise beyond leading logarithmic accuracy. We show that a very good description of data is possible in both cases, provided the parent dipole or smallest dipole prescriptions are employed for the running of the coupling.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2015

The neutrino-nucleon cross section at UHE and its astrophysical implications

We present a quantitative study of the $νN$ cross section in the neutrino energy range $10^4<E_ν<10^{14}$ GeV within two transversal QCD approaches: NLO DGLAP evolution using different sets of PDFs and BK small-$x$ evolution with running coupling and kinematical corrections. We show that the non-linear effects embodied in the BK equation yield a slower raise in the cross section for $E_ν\gtrsim 10^{8}$ GeV than the usual DGLAP based calculation. Finally, we translate this theoretical uncertainty into upper bounds for the ultra-high-energy neutrino flux for different experiments.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2014

Gluon saturation and initial conditions for relativistic heavy ion collisions

We present an overview of theoretical aspects of the phenomenon of gluon saturation in high energy scattering in Quantum Chromo Dynamics. Then we review the state-of-the-art of saturation-based phenomenological approaches to the study and characterisation of the initial state of ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions performed at RHIC and the LHC. Our review focuses mostly in the Color Glass Condensate effective theory, although we shall also discuss other approaches in parallel.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2013

The initial state of heavy-ion collisions

We present a brief review of recent theoretical developments and related phenomenological approaches for understanding the initial state of heavy-ion collisions, with emphasis on the Color Glass Condensate formalism.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

CGC predictions for p+Pb collisions at the LHC

We present predictions for total multiplicities and single inclusive particle production in proton-lead collisions at the LHC. The main dynamical input in our calculations is the use of solutions of the running coupling BK equation tested in e+p data. We use a Monte-Carlo treatment of the nuclear geometry and either $k_t$-factorization or the hybrid formalisms to describe particle production in the central and forward rapidity regions, respectively.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2012

Delineating the saturation boundary: linear vs non-linear QCD evolution from HERA data to LHC phenomenology

The forthcoming p+Pb run at the LHC will provide crucial in formation on the initial state effects of heavy ion collisions and on the gluon saturation phenomena. In turn, most of the saturation inspired phenomenology in heavy ion collisions borrows substantial empiric information from the analysis of e+p data, where abundant high quality data on the small-x kinematic region is available. Indeed, the very precise combined HERA data provides a testing ground in which the relevance of novel QCD regimes, other than the successful linear DGLAP evolution, in small-x inclusive DIS data can be ascertained. We present a study of the dependence of the AAMQS fits, based on the running coupling BK non-linear evolution equations (rcBK), on the fitted dataset. This allows for the identification of the kinematical region where rcBK accurately describes the data, and thus for the determination of its applicability boundary. It also set important constraints to the saturation models used to model the early stages of heavy ion collisions. Finally we compare the rcBK results with NNLO DGLAP fits, obtained with the NNPDF methodology with analogous kinematical cuts. Further, we explore the impact on LHC phenomenology of applying stringent kinematical cuts to the low-x HERA data in a DGLAP fit.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

A model for gluon production in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC with rcBK unintegrated gluon densities

This note is a physics manual for a recent numerical implementation of k_t-factorization with running-coupling BK unintegrated gluon distributions. We also compile some results for Pb+Pb collisions at \sqrt{s} = 2.75 TeV, such as predictions for the centrality dependence of the charged particle multiplicity and transverse energy. The model can further be used to obtain initial conditions for hydrodynamic simulations of A+A collisions at the LHC.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

AAMQS: a non-linear QCD description of new HERA data at small-x

We present a global analysis of available data on inclusive structure functions measured in electron-proton scattering at small values of Bjorken-x, including the latest data from the combined HERA analysis on reduced cross sections. Our approach relies on the dipole formulation of DIS together with the use of the non-linear running coupling BK equation for the description of the small-x dynamics. With the resulting parametrization we are able to describe the latest FL data measured by the H1 collaboration. Further, we discuss the kinematical domain where significant deviations from NLO-DGLAP should be expected and the ability of non-linnear physics to account for such deviations.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

CGC initial conditions at RHIC and LHC

Monte-Carlo implementations of kT -factorization formula with both KLN and running-coupling BK unintegrated gluon distributions for nucleus-nucleus collisions are used to analyze recent experimental data on the particle multiplicities from RHIC(Au+Au@200GeV) and LHC(Pb+Pb@2.76TeV). We also compare the predicted transverse energy at midrapidity to new data from ALICE.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2011

Azimuthal correlations of forward di-hadrons in d+Au collisions suppressed by saturation

RHIC experiments have recently measured the azimuthal correlation function of forward di-hadrons. The data show a disappearance of the away-side peak in central d+Au collisions, compared to p+p collisions, as was predicted by saturation physics. Indeed, we argue that this effect, absent at mid-rapidity, is a consequence of the small-x evolution into the saturation regime of the Gold nucleus wave function. We show that the data are well described in the Color Glass Condensate framework.

hep-ph↗