arXiv subjects

Pieter Taels

Publications and source records attributed to Pieter Taels.

23 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Jet quenching parameter in an expanding QCD plasma

We study the phenomenon of transverse momentum broadening for a high-$p_T$ parton propagating through a weakly-coupled quark-gluon plasma undergoing boost-invariant longitudinal expansion. We propose a boost-invariant description for this phenomenon, in which the broadening refers to the angular variables $η$ (the pseudo-rapidity) and $ϕ$ (the azimuthal angle). The jet quenching parameter $\hat{q}$ which enters this description depends upon the proper time alone. We furthermore consider radiative corrections to $\hat q$. As in the case of a static medium, we find potentially large corrections enhanced by a double logarithm. But unlike for the static medium, these corrections are now local in time: they depend upon the local (proper) time characterizing the expansion, and not upon the overall path length. We resum such corrections to all orders into a renormalized jet quenching parameter. The main effect of this resummation is to slow down the decrease of $\hat q$ with increasing proper time.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Linearly-polarized small-x gluons in forward heavy-quark pair production

We use the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) framework to study the production of forward heavy quark-antiquark pairs in unpolarized proton-nucleus or proton-proton collisions in the small-x regime. In the limit of nearly back-to-back jets, the CGC result simplifies into the transverse-momentum dependent (TMD) factorization approach. For massless quarks, the TMD factorization formula involves three unpolarized gluon TMDs: the Weizsäcker-Williams gluon distribution, the adjoint-dipole gluon distribution, and an additional one. When quark masses are kept non-zero, three new gluon TMDs appear -- each partnered to one of the aforementioned distributions -- which describe the distribution of linearly-polarized gluons in the unpolarized small-x target. We show how these six gluon TMDs emerge from the CGC formulation and we determine their expressions in terms of Wilson line correlators. We calculate them analytically in the McLerran-Venugopalan model, and further evolve them towards smaller values of x using a numerical implementation of JIMWLK evolution.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Quantum Chromodynamics at small Bjorken-x

With the advent of very powerful particle accelerators, such as RHIC and the LHC, it becomes possible to study QCD in high energy collisions, in which the gluon content of the proton or nucleus is probed and its density becomes often large enough for nonlinear effects to play a role. This small-x regime of QCD is well described by an effective theory known as the Color Glass Condensate (CGC). In this thesis, we introduce the CGC and apply it to two different problems. First, we use the CGC to study forward heavy-quark production in pA collisions. When the quarks are nearly back-to-back, the CGC result coincides with the one in the TMD factorization approach. This allows us to extract the small-x limit of the Weizsäcker-Williams gluon distribution, as well as the dipole distribution and one extra gluon TMD. Each of these gluon TMDs is accompanied by a partner, which couples via the quark mass and which describes the linearly polarized gluon content of the unpolarized nucleus. We calculate the six resulting gluon TMDs analytically in the MV model, and evolve them in rapidity using a numerical implementation of JIMWLK. The second problem is situated within heavy-ion physics. Jets, produced in the scattering of two nuclei, travel through the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) before reaching the detector, and are attenuated as a result of their interaction with this medium. This phenomenon, known as jet quenching, is one of the main probes to investigate the QGP. We focus on the transverse momentum broadening of a hard particle traveling through a nuclear medium, and employ small-x techniques to attempt to resum the leading logarithmic corrections due to soft gluon radiation. Although, ultimately, we can only solve the resulting in-medium evolution equation to DLA accuracy, we do present a concise framework for the problem, and draw a detailed comparison with the CGC and with the literature.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Probing the gluon Sivers function in $p^\uparrow p\to J/ψ\,X$ and $p^\uparrow p \to D\,X$

We present a study of transverse single-spin asymmetries (SSAs) in $p^\uparrow p\to J/ψ\,X$ and $p^\uparrow p\to D X$ within the framework of the generalized parton model (GPM), which includes both spin and transverse momentum effects, and show how they can provide useful information on the still almost unknown gluon Sivers function. Moreover, by adopting a modified version of this model, named color gauge invariant (CGI) GPM, we analyze the impact of the initial- and final-state interactions on our predictions. As a consequence, we find that these two processes are sensitive to different gluon Sivers functions, which can be expressed as linear combinations of two distinct, universal gluon distributions. We therefore define proper observables which could allow for a separate extraction of these two independent Sivers functions. At the same time, we show how it would be possible to discriminate between the GPM and the CGI-GPM approaches by comparing the corresponding estimates of SSAs with present and future experimental results at RHIC.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Chern-Simons diffusion rate in a holographic Yang-Mills theory

Using holography, we compute the Chern-Simons diffusion rate of 4d gauge theories constructed by wrapping D4-branes on a circle. In the model with antiperiodic boundary conditions for fermions, we find that it scales like $T^6$ in the high-temperature phase. With periodic fermions, this scaling persists at low temperatures. The scaling is reminiscent of 6d hydrodynamic behavior even at temperatures small compared to compactification scales of the M5-branes from which the D4-branes descend. We offer a holographic explanation of this behavior by adding a new entry to the known map between D4 and M5 hydrodynamics, and suggest a field theory explanation based on "deconstruction" or "fractionization".

hep-th↗