arXiv subjects

Kyle Lee

Publications and source records attributed to Kyle Lee.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

The 1 $\rightarrow$ 3 Massive Splitting Functions from QCD Factorization and SCET

Splitting functions are universal functions describing the collinear dynamics of gauge theories, and as such are crucial ingredients for a wide variety of calculations in perturbative QCD. We present analytic results for the triple collinear splitting functions in QCD with a single massive parton. We derive the splitting functions using two distinct methods; first by expanding the squared matrix elements in the collinear limit, and secondly by using soft-collinear effective theory with massive quarks. We find agreement between these two approaches, providing a strong check of our results. Additionally, we also check all iterated and soft limits of our results, finding agreement with predictions from factorization. Our results provide an important ingredient for higher order perturbative calculations involving massive partons, and for the description of the collinear dynamics of heavy flavor jets.

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arXiv2023

Probing Transverse Momentum Dependent Structures with Azimuthal Dependence of Energy Correlators

We study the azimuthal angle dependence of the energy-energy correlators $\langle \mathcal{E}(\hat{n}_1)\mathcal{E}(\hat{n}_2)\rangle$ in the back-to-back region for $e^+e^-$ annihilation and deep inelastic scattering (DIS) processes with general polarization of the proton beam. We demonstrate that the polarization information of the beam and the underlying partons from the hard scattering is propagated into the azimuthal angle dependence of the energy-energy correlators. In the process, we define the Collins-type EEC jet functions and introduce a new EEC observable using the lab-frame angles in the DIS process. Furthermore, we extend our formalism to explore the two-point energy correlation between hadrons with different quantum numbers $\mathbb{S}_i$ in the back-to-back limit $\langle \mathcal{E}_{\mathbb{S}_1}(\hat{n}_1)\mathcal{E}_{\mathbb{S}_2}(\hat{n}_2)\rangle$. We find that in the Operator Product Expansion (OPE) region the nonperturbative information is entirely encapsulated by a single number. Using our formalism, we present several phenomenological studies that showcase how energy correlators can be used to probe transverse momentum dependent structures.

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arXiv2023

Joint Track Functions: Expanding the Space of Calculable Correlations at Colliders

The theoretical description of observables at collider experiments relies on factorization theorems separating perturbative dynamics from universal non-perturbative matrix elements. Despite significant recent progress in extending these factorization theorems to increasingly differential jet substructure observables, the focus has been primarily on infrared safe observables sensitive only to correlations in the energy of final state hadrons. However, significant information about the dynamics of the underlying collision is encoded in how energy is correlated between hadrons of different quantum numbers. In this paper we extend the class of calculable correlations by deriving factorization theorems for a broad class of correlations, $\langle \mathcal{E}_{R_1}(n_1) \cdots \mathcal{E}_{R_k}(n_k) \rangle$, between the energy flux carried by hadrons specified by quantum numbers, $R_1, \cdots, R_k$. We show that these factorization theorems involve moments of a new class of universal non-perturbative functions, the "joint track functions", which extend the track function formalism to describe the fraction of energy carried by hadrons of multiple quantum numbers arising from the fragmentation of quarks or gluons. We study the general properties of these functions, and then apply this to the specific case of joint track functions for positive and negative electromagnetic charges. We extract these from parton shower Monte Carlo programs and use them to calculate correlations in electromagnetically charged energy flux. We additionally propose and study a C-odd $\mathcal{E}_{\mathcal{Q}}$ detector, which results in a qualitatively distinct scaling behavior compared to the standard energy correlators. Our formalism significantly extends the class of observables that can be computed at hadron colliders, with a wide range of applications from particle to nuclear physics.

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arXiv2023

Energy Correlators Taking Charge

The confining transition from asymptotically free partons to hadrons remains one of the most mysterious aspects of Quantum Chromodynamics. With the wealth of high quality jet substructure data we can hope to gain new experimental insights into the details of its dynamics. Jet substructure has traditionally focused on correlations, $\langle \mathcal{E}(n_1) \mathcal{E}(n_2) \cdots \mathcal{E}(n_k) \rangle$, in the energy flux of hadrons. However, significantly more information about the confinement transition is encoded in how energy is correlated between hadrons with different quantum numbers, for example electric charge. In this Letter we develop the field theoretic formalism to compute general correlations, $\langle \mathcal{E}_{R_1}(n_1) \mathcal{E}_{R_2}(n_2) \cdots\mathcal{E}_{R_k}(n_k) \rangle$, between the energy flux carried by hadrons with quantum numbers $R_i$, by introducing new universal non-perturbative functions, which we term joint track functions. Using this formalism we show that the strong interactions introduce enhanced small angle correlations between opposite-sign hadrons, relative to like-sign hadrons, identifiable as an enhanced scaling of $\langle \mathcal{E}_+(n_1) \mathcal{E}_-(n_2) \rangle$ relative to $\langle \mathcal{E}_+(n_1) \mathcal{E}_+(n_2) \rangle$. We are also able to compute the scaling of a $C$-odd three-point function, $\langle \mathcal{E}_\mathcal{Q}(n_1) \mathcal{E}_\mathcal{Q}(n_2) \mathcal{E}_\mathcal{Q}(n_3) \rangle$. Our results greatly extend the class of systematically computable jet substructure observables, pushing perturbation theory deeper into the parton to hadron transition, and providing new observables to understand the dynamics of confinement.

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arXiv2023

A Formalism for Extracting Track Functions from Jet Measurements

The continued success of the jet substructure program will require widespread use of tracking information to enable increasingly precise measurements of a broader class of observables. The recent reformulation of jet substructure in terms of energy correlators has simplified the incorporation of universal non-perturbative matrix elements, so called "track functions", in jet substructure calculations. These advances make it timely to understand how these universal non-perturbative functions can be extracted from hadron collider data, which is complicated by the use jet algorithms. In this paper we introduce a new class of jet functions, which we call (semi-inclusive) track jet functions, which describe measurements of the track energy fraction in identified jets. These track jet functions can be matched onto the universal track functions, with perturbatively calculable matching coefficients that incorporate the jet algorithm dependence. We perform this matching, and present phenomenological results for the charged energy fraction in jets at the LHC and EIC/HERA at collinear next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. We show that higher moments of the charged energy fraction directly exhibit non-linear Lorentzian renormalization group flows, allowing the study of these flows with collider data. Our factorization theorem enables the extraction of universal track functions from jet measurements, opening the door to their use for a precision jet substructure program.

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arXiv2023

Collins-type Energy-Energy Correlators and Nucleon Structure

We generalize the conventional Energy-Energy Correlator (EEC) to include the azimuthal angle dependence, so to define azimuthal angle dependent EEC observables. We study this new EEC observable in $e^+e^-$ and semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS). In the back-to-back region, we find that the azimuthal angle dependent EEC is sensitive to both the unpolarized EEC jet function and a Collins-type EEC jet function. While the unpolarized EEC jet function is related to the unpolarized transverse momentum dependent (TMD) fragmentation function, the Collins-type EEC jet function is connected with the Collins fragmentation function. We further demonstrate how the new observables allow us to access to the 3D structure of nucleons, especially the spin-dependent ones.

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arXiv2023

The case for an EIC Theory Alliance: Theoretical Challenges of the EIC

We outline the physics opportunities provided by the Electron Ion Collider (EIC). These include the study of the parton structure of the nucleon and nuclei, the onset of gluon saturation, the production of jets and heavy flavor, hadron spectroscopy and tests of fundamental symmetries. We review the present status and future challenges in EIC theory that have to be addressed in order to realize this ambitious and impactful physics program, including how to engage a diverse and inclusive workforce. In order to address these many-fold challenges, we propose a coordinated effort involving theory groups with differing expertise is needed. We discuss the scientific goals and scope of such an EIC Theory Alliance.

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arXiv2023

Machine learning-based jet and event classification at the Electron-Ion Collider with applications to hadron structure and spin physics

We explore machine learning-based jet and event identification at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). We study the effectiveness of machine learning-based classifiers at relatively low EIC energies, focusing on (i) identifying the flavor of the jet and (ii) identifying the underlying hard process of the event. We propose applications of our machine learning-based jet identification in the key research areas at the future EIC and current Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider program, including enhancing constraints on (transverse momentum dependent) parton distribution functions, improving experimental access to transverse spin asymmetries, studying photon structure, and quantifying the modification of hadrons and jets in the cold nuclear matter environment in electron-nucleus collisions. We establish first benchmarks and contrast the estimated performance of flavor tagging at the EIC with that at the Large Hadron Collider. We perform studies relevant to aspects of detector design including particle identification, charge information, and minimum transverse momentum capabilities. Additionally, we study the impact of using full event information instead of using only information associated with the identified jet. These methods can be deployed either on suitably accurate Monte Carlo event generators, or, for several applications, directly on experimental data. We provide an outlook for ultimately connecting these machine learning-based methods with first principles calculations in quantum chromodynamics.

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arXiv2023

Field-Theoretic Analysis of Hadronization Using Soft Drop Jet Mass

One of the greatest challenges in quantum chromodynamics is understanding the hadronization mechanism, which is also crucial for carrying out precision physics with jet substructure. In this Letter, we combine recent advancements in our understanding of the field theory-based nonperturbative structure of the soft drop jet mass with precise perturbative calculations of its multi-differential variants at next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (NNLL) accuracy. This enables a systematic study of its hadronization power corrections in a completely model-independent way. We calibrate and test hadronization models and their interplay with parton showers by comparing our universality predictions with various event generators for quark and gluon initiated jets in both lepton-lepton and hadron-hadron collisions. We find that hadronization models perform better for quark jets relative to gluon jets. Our results provide the necessary toolkit for precision studies with the soft drop jet mass motivating future analyses using real world collider data. The nontrivial constraints derived in our framework are useful for improving the modeling of hadronization and its interface with parton showers in next generation event generators.

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arXiv2022

Subleading power corrections to heavy quarkonium production in QCD factorization approach

We report the current understanding of heavy quarkonium production at high transverse momentum ($p_T$) in hadronic collisions in terms of QCD factorization. In this presentation, we highlight the role of subleading power corrections to heavy quarkonium production, which are essential to describe the $p_T$ spectrum of quarkonium at a relatively lower $p_T$. We also introduce prescription to match QCD factorization to fixed-order NRQCD factorization calculations for quarkonium production at low $p_T$.

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arXiv2022

Beautiful and Charming Energy Correlators

Understanding the detailed structure of energy flow within jets, a field known as jet substructure, plays a central role in searches for new physics, and precision studies of QCD. Many applications of jet substructure require an understanding of jets initiated by heavy quarks, whose description has lagged behind remarkable recent progress for massless jets. In this Letter, we initiate a study of correlation functions of energy flow operators on beauty and charm jets to illuminate the effects of the intrinsic mass of the elementary particles of QCD. We present a factorization theorem incorporating the mass of heavy quarks, and show that the heavy quark jet functions for energy correlators have a simple structure in perturbation theory. Our results achieve the very first full next-to-leading-logarithmic calculation of the heavy quark jet substructure observable at the LHC. Using this framework, we study the behavior of the correlators, and show that they exhibit a clear transition from a massless scaling regime, at precisely the scale of the heavy quark mass. This manifests the long-sought-after dead-cone effect and illustrates fundamental effects from the intrinsic mass of beauty and charm quarks in a perturbative regime, before they are confined inside hadrons. Our theoretical framework for studying energy correlators using heavy jets has many exciting applications for improving the description of mass effects in next generation parton shower event generators, probing the QGP, and studying heavy flavor fragmentation functions.

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arXiv2022

Quantum simulation of non-equilibrium dynamics and thermalization in the Schwinger model

We present simulations of non-equilibrium dynamics of quantum field theories on digital quantum computers. As a representative example, we consider the Schwinger model, a 1+1 dimensional U(1) gauge theory, coupled through a Yukawa-type interaction to a thermal environment described by a scalar field theory. We use the Hamiltonian formulation of the Schwinger model discretized on a spatial lattice. With the thermal scalar fields traced out, the Schwinger model can be treated as an open quantum system and its real-time dynamics are governed by a Lindblad equation in the Markovian limit. The interaction with the environment ultimately drives the system to thermal equilibrium. In the quantum Brownian motion limit, the Lindblad equation is related to a field theoretical Caldeira-Leggett equation. By using the Stinespring dilation theorem with ancillary qubits, we perform studies of both the non-equilibrium dynamics and the preparation of a thermal state in the Schwinger model using IBM's simulator and quantum devices. The real-time dynamics of field theories as open quantum systems and the thermal state preparation studied here are relevant for a variety of applications in nuclear and particle physics, quantum information and cosmology.

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arXiv2022

Conformal Colliders Meet the LHC

The remarkably high energies of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have allowed for the first measurements of the shapes and scalings of multi-point correlators of energy flow operators, $\langle Ψ| \mathcal{E}(\vec n_1) \mathcal{E}(\vec n_2) \cdots \mathcal{E}(\vec n_k) |Ψ\rangle$, providing new insights into the Lorentzian dynamics of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In this Letter, we use recent advances in effective field theory to derive a rigorous factorization theorem for the light-ray density matrix, $ρ= |Ψ\rangle \langle Ψ|$, inside high transverse momentum jets at the LHC. Using the light-ray operator product expansion, the scaling behavior of multi-point correlators can be computed from the expectation value of the twist-2 spin-$J$ light-ray operators, $\mathbb{O}^{[J]}$, in this state, $\text{Tr}[ ρ~\mathbb{O}^{[J]} ]$. We compute the light-ray density matrix at next-to-leading order, and combine this with results for the next-to-leading logarithmic scaling behavior of the correlators up to six-points, comparing with CMS Open Data. This theoretical accuracy allows us to resolve the quantum scaling dimensions of QCD light-ray operators inside jets at the LHC. Our factorization theorem for the light-ray density matrix at the LHC completes the link between recent developments in the study of energy correlators and LHC phenomenology, opening the door to a wide variety of precision jet substructure studies.

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arXiv2022

Jet energy drop

We study the jet energy drop, which is the relative difference between the groomed and ungroomed jet energy or transverse momentum. It is one of the fundamental quantities that characterizes the impact of grooming on jets produced in high energy collisions. We consider three different grooming algorithms i) soft drop, ii) iterated soft drop, and iii) trimming. We carry out the resummation of large logarithms of the jet energy drop, the jet radius as well as relevant grooming parameters at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL$'$) accuracy. In addition, we account for non-global and clustering logarithms, and determine the next-to-leading order corrections. For soft drop we perform a joint resummation of the jet energy drop and the groomed jet radius, which is necessary to achieve the correct all-order structure of the cross section, in particular for the Sudakov-safe case of soft drop with $β=0$. We present numerical results for LHC energies and compare to Pythia simulations as well as CMS data. Our factorization framework predicts the onset of nonperturbative effects in the jet energy distribution, in line with what we find in Pythia. The jet energy drop observables stand out because they only probe soft radiation, making them ideal candidates for the tuning of parton shower Monte Carlo event generators and for probing medium effects in heavy-ion collisions.

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arXiv2022

Spin Asymmetries in Electron-jet Production at the EIC

We investigate all the possible spin asymmetries that can occur in back-to-back electron-jet production with hadron observed inside a jet in electron-proton collisions. We derive the factorization formalism for all spin asymmetries and perform phenomenological studies for the future electron ion collider kinematics. We illustrate that the back-to-back electron-jet production opens up new opportunities to study transverse momentum dependent fragmentation functions and distribution functions.

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arXiv2021

QCD factorization for hadronic quarkonium production at high $p_T$

Heavy quarkonium production at high transverse momentum ($p_T$) in hadronic collisions is explored in the QCD factorization approach. We find that the leading power in the $1/p_T$ expansion is responsible for high $p_T$ regime, while the next-to-leading power contribution is necessary for the low $p_T$ region. We present the first numerical analysis of the scale evolution of coupled twist-2 and twist-4 fragmentation functions (FFs) for heavy quarkonium production and demonstrate that the QCD factorization approach is capable of describing the $p_T$ spectrum of hadronic $J/ψ$ production at the LHC.

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arXiv2021

Spin asymmetries in electron-jet production at the future electron ion collider

We study all the possible spin asymmetries that can arise in back-to-back electron-jet production, $ep\rightarrow e+\text{jet}+X$, as well as the associated jet fragmentation process, $ep\rightarrow e+ \text{jet} (h)+X$, in electron-proton collisions. We derive the factorization formalism for these spin asymmetries and perform the corresponding phenomenology for the kinematics relevant to the future electron ion collider. In the case of unpolarized electron-proton scattering, we also give predictions for azimuthal asymmetries for the HERA experiment. This demonstrates that electron-jet production is an outstanding process for probing unpolarized and polarized transverse momentum dependent parton distribution functions and fragmentation functions.

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arXiv2021

The soft drop momentum sharing fraction $z_g$ beyond leading-logarithmic accuracy

Grooming techniques, such as soft drop, play a central role in reducing sensitivity of jets to e.g. underlying event and hadronization at current collider experiments. The momentum sharing fraction $z_g$, of the two branches in a jet that pass the soft drop condition, is one of the most important observables characterizing a collinear splitting inside the jet, and directly probes the QCD splitting functions. In this work, we present a factorization framework that enables a systematic calculation of the corresponding cross section beyond leading-logarithmic (LL) accuracy, showing that this measurement is not only sensitive to the QCD charge but also the spin of the parton that initiates the jet. Our results at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL$'$) accuracy include non-global logarithms, and provide a first meaningful assessment of the perturbative uncertainty. We present a comparison to the available experimental data from ALICE, ATLAS, and STAR and find excellent agreement.

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