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Zhong-Bo Kang

Publications and source records attributed to Zhong-Bo Kang.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Probing Nucleons and Nuclei in High Energy Collisions

This volume is a collection of contributions for the 7-week program "Probing Nucleons and Nuclei in High Energy Collisions" that was held at the Institute for Nuclear Theory in Seattle, WA, USA, from October 1 until November 16, 2018. The program was dedicated to the physics of the Electron Ion Collider (EIC), the world's first polarized electron-nucleon (ep) and electron-nucleus (eA) collider to be constructed in the USA. These proceedings are organized by chapters, corresponding to the weeks of the program: Week I, Generalized parton distributions; Week II, Transverse spin and TMDs; Week III, Longitudinal spin; Week IV, Symposium week; Weeks V & VI, eA collisions; Week VII, pA and AA collisions. We hope these proceedings will be useful to readers as a compilation of EIC-related science at the end of the second decade of the XXI century.

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Polarized jet fragmentation functions

We develop the theoretical framework needed to study the distribution of hadrons with general polarization inside jets, with and without transverse momentum measured with respect to the standard jet axis. The key development in this paper, referred to as "polarized jet fragmentation functions", opens up new opportunities to study both collinear and transverse momentum dependent (TMD) fragmentation functions. As two examples of the developed framework, we study longitudinally polarized collinear $Λ$ and transversely polarized TMD $Λ$ production inside jets in both $pp$ and $ep$ collisions. We find that both observables have high potential in constraining spin-dependent fragmentation functions with sizeable asymmetries predicted, in particular, at the future Electron-Ion Collider.

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Extracting the jet transport coefficient of cold nuclear matter from world data

We present the first global extraction of the jet transport coefficient ($\hat q$) for cold nuclear matter within the framework of higher-twist expansion. The analysis takes into account the world data on transverse momentum broadening in semi-inclusive $e$-A deep inelastic scattering (DIS) and in Drell-Yan dilepton and heavy quarkonium production in $p$-A collisions, as well as the nuclear modification of the structure functions in DIS. The results of this work provide the first quantitative evidence for the universality and non-trivial scale dependence of the medium transport property, similar to that for nucleon structure as encoded in the standard parton distribution functions. We expect the extracted scale dependence of $\hat q$ for cold nuclear matter can be extended to precisely identify the fundamental property of quark gluon plasma.

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Extracting the Transverse Momentum Dependent Polarizing Fragmentation Functions

We demonstrate that spontaneous transverse polarization of Lambda baryon ($Λ$) production in $e^+e^-$ annihilation can be described using the transverse momentum dependent polarizing fragmentation functions (TMD PFFs). Using a simple Gaussian model, we perform an extraction of the TMD PFFs by fitting the BELLE collaboration's recent measurement of the $Λ$ transverse polarization in back-to-back $Λ+h$ production in $e^+ e^-$ collisions, $e^{-} + e^{+} \rightarrow Λ^{\uparrow}+h+X$. We find that this simple model accurately describes the experimental data for $Λ$ production associated with pions and kaons, and we are able to determine TMD PFFs for different quark flavors. We use these newly extracted TMD PFFs to make predictions for the transverse polarization of $Λ$ produced in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering at a future electron-ion collider, and find that such a polarization is around $10\%$ and should be measurable.

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Semi-Inclusive Jet Functions and Jet Substructure in $J_{E_T}^{(I)}$ and $J_{E_T}^{(II)}$ Algorithms

Within the framework of Soft Collinear Effective Theory, we present calculations of semi-inclusive jet functions and fragmenting jet functions at next-to-leading order (NLO) for both quark- and gluon-initiated jets, for jet algorithms of $J_{E_T}^{(I)}$ and $J_{E_T}^{(II)}$ where one maximizes a suitable jet function. We demonstrate the consistency of the obtained results with the standard perturbative QCD calculations for $J_{E_T}^{(I)}$ algorithm, while the results for fragmenting jet functions with the $J_{E_T}^{(II)}$ algorithm are new. The renormalization group (RG) equation for both semi-inclusive jet functions and fragmenting jet functions are derived and shown to follow the time-like DGLAP evolution equations, independent of specific jet algorithms. The RG equation can be used to resum single logarithms of the jet size parameter $β$ for highly collimated jets in these algorithms where $β\gg 1$.

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Power Counting the Small-$x$ Observables

We emphasize the importance of applying power counting to the small-$x$ observables, which introduces novel soft contributions usually missing and allows for a unified treatment of the Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) evolution and various Sudakov logarithms. We use $pA \to h(p_{h\perp})X$ at forward rapidity to highlight how the power counting yields a partonic cross section with collinear and soft sectors. We show how the kinematic constraints can be obtained in the soft sector without violating the power counting. We further show how one can resum the threshold Sudakov logarithms systematically to all orders in a re-factorized framework with additional collinear-soft contributions. Direct applications to other small-$x$ processes involving heavy particles, jet (sub-)observables and EIC physics are straightforward.

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The soft drop groomed jet radius at NLL

We present results for the soft drop groomed jet radius $R_g$ at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. The radius of a groomed jet which corresponds to the angle between the two branches passing the soft drop criterion is one of the characteristic observables relevant for the precise understanding of groomed jet substructure. We establish a factorization formalism that allows for the resummation of all relevant large logarithms, which is based on demonstrating the all order equivalence to a jet veto in the region between the boundaries of the groomed and ungroomed jet. Non-global logarithms including clustering effects due to the Cambridge/Aachen algorithm are resummed to all orders using a suitable Monte Carlo algorithm. We perform numerical calculations and find a very good agreement with Pythia 8 simulations. We provide theoretical predictions for the LHC and RHIC.

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A global extraction of the jet transport coefficient in cold nuclear matter

Within the framework of the generalized QCD factorization formalism, we perform the first global analysis of the jet transport coefficient ($\hat q$) for cold nuclear matter. The analysis takes into account the world data on transverse momentum broadening in semi-inclusive electron-nucleus deep inelastic scattering, Drell-Yan dilepton and heavy quarkonium production in proton-nucleus collisions, as well as the nuclear modification of the structure functions in deep inelastic scattering, comprising a total of 215 data points from 8 data sets. For the first time, we clarify quantitatively the universality and probing scale dependence of the nuclear medium property as encoded in $\hat q$. We expect that the determined parametrization of $\hat q$ in cold nuclear matter will have significant impact on precise identification of the transport property of hot dense medium created in heavy ion collisions.

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Jet fragmentation functions for $Z$-tagged jets

Recently the LHCb collaboration has measured both longitudinal and transverse momentum distribution of hadrons produced inside $Z$-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider. These distributions are commonly referred to as jet fragmentation functions and are characterized by the longitudinal momentum fraction $z_h$ of the jet carried by the hadron and the transverse momentum $j_\perp$ with respect to the jet direction. We derive a QCD formalism within Soft-Collinear Effective Theory to describe these distributions and find that the $z_h$-dependence provides information on standard collinear fragmentation functions, while $j_\perp$-dependence probes transverse momentum dependent (TMD) fragmentation functions. We perform theoretical calculations and compare our results with the LHCb data. We find good agreement for the intermediate $z_h$ region. For $j_\perp$-dependence, we suggest binning in both $z_h$ and $j_\perp$, which would lead to a more direct probing of TMD fragmentation functions.

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Soft drop groomed jet angularities at the LHC

Jet angularities are a class of jet substructure observables where a continuous parameter is introduced in order to interpolate between different classic observables such as the jet mass and jet broadening. We consider jet angularities measured on an inclusive jet sample at the LHC where the soft drop grooming procedure is applied in order to remove soft contaminations from the jets. The soft drop algorithm allows for a precise comparison between theory and data and could be used to extract the QCD strong coupling constant $α_s$ from jet substructure data in the future. We develop a framework to realize the resummation of all relevant large logarithms at the next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy. To demonstrate that the developed formalism is suitable for the extraction of $α_s$, we extend our calculations to next-to-next-to-leading logarithm (NNLL) for the jet mass case. Overall, we find good agreement between our NLL numerical results and Pythia simulations for LHC kinematics and we observe an improved agreement when the NNLL components are included. In addition, we expect that groomed jet angularities will be a useful handle for studying the modification of jets in heavy-ion collisions.

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Light and heavy flavor dijet production and dijet mass modification in heavy ion collisions

Back-to-back light and heavy flavor dijet measurements are promising experimental channels to accurately study the physics of jet production and propagation in a dense QCD medium. They can provide new insights into the path length, color charge, and mass dependence of quark and gluon energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma produced in reactions of ultra-relativistic nuclei. To this end, we perform a comprehensive study of both light and heavy flavor dijet production in heavy ion collisions. We propose the modification of dijet invariant mass distributions in such reactions as a novel observable that shows enhanced sensitivity to the QGP transport properties and heavy quark mass effects on in-medium parton showers. This is achieved through the addition of the jet quenching effects on the individual jets as opposed to their subtraction. The latter drives the subtle effects on more conventional observables, such as the dijet momentum imbalance shifts, which we also calculate here. Results are presented in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV for comparison to data at the Large Hadron Collider and in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV to guide the future sPHENIX program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.

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A transverse momentum dependent framework for back-to-back photon+jet production

We propose the $pp \rightarrow \text{jet} + γ$ as a new process for studying the Transverse Momentum Dependent Parton Distribution Functions (TMDs). To do so, we developed a novel framework for the jet-$γ$ imbalance in $pp \rightarrow \text{jet} + γ$ using Soft Collinear Effective Theory. The new framework opens up many new insights to the TMDs which the current TMD studies confined to the Drell-Yan and semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering processes cannot achieve. The established formalism provides, for the first time, a first principle prediction of the jet-$γ$ imbalance in $pp$ collisions and therefore a first direct probe of the factorization breaking effects when compared with the future experimental data. If the factorization breaking effects are found small, the process will offer the unique sensitivities to both the polarized and un-polarized quark/gluon TMDs. We demonstrate the predictive power of the framework by calculating each component in the formalism to the next-to-leading order accuracy and by realizing the next-to-leading-logarithmic evolution. We provide the first numerical estimates for this process, for both the unpolarized cross section and the Sivers asymmetry.

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The groomed and ungroomed jet mass distribution for inclusive jet production at the LHC

We study jet mass distributions measured in the single inclusive jet production in proton-proton collisions $pp\to \text{jet}+X$ at the LHC. We consider both standard ungroomed jets as well as soft drop groomed jets. Within the Soft Collinear Effective Theory (SCET), we establish QCD factorization theorems for both cases and we study their relation. The developed framework allows for the joint resummation of several classes of logarithmic corrections to all orders in the strong coupling constant. For the ungroomed case, we resum logarithms in the jet radius parameter and in the small jet mass. For the groomed case, we resum in addition the logarithms in the soft threshold parameter $z_{\text{cut}}$ which is introduced by the soft drop grooming algorithm. In this way, we are able to reliably determine the absolute normalization of the groomed jet mass distribution in proton-proton collisions. All logarithmic corrections are resummed to the next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy. We present numerical results and compare with the available data from the LHC. For both the groomed and ungroomed jet mass distributions we find very good agreement after including non-perturbative corrections.

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Polarized hyperon production in single-inclusive electron-positron annihilation at next-to-leading order

We study the production of polarized $Λ$-hyperons in electron-positron annihilation. We are particularly interested in the transverse-spin dependence of the cross section for unpolarized incident electron-positron pairs. At high energies this process may be described in the collinear twist-3 framework, where the hadronization transition of partons into a transversely polarized $Λ$-hyperon can be written in terms of collinear twist-3 fragmentation matrix elements. We calculate the hard partonic cross sections and interference terms in perturbative QCD to next-to-leading order accuracy. We find that the QCD equation of motion plays a crucial role in our analysis. As a byproduct, assuming the validity of QCD factorization for twist-3 observables at next-to-leading order, we derive the evolution equation for the relevant twist-3 fragmentation matrix element.

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Phenomenological constraints on $A_N$ in $p^\uparrow p\to π\, X$ from Lorentz invariance relations

We present a new analysis of $A_N$ in $p^\uparrow p\to π\, X$ within the collinear twist-3 factorization formalism. We incorporate recently derived Lorentz invariance relations into our calculation and focus on input from the kinematical twist-3 functions, which are weighted integrals of transverse momentum dependent (TMD) functions. In particular, we use the latest extractions of the Sivers and Collins functions with TMD evolution to compute certain terms in $A_N$. Consequently, we are able to constrain the remaining contributions from the lesser known dynamical twist-3 correlators.

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Jet angularity measurements for single inclusive jet production

We study jet angularity measurements for single-inclusive jet production at the LHC. Jet angularities depend on a continuous parameter $a$ allowing for a smooth interpolation between different traditional jet shape observables. We establish a factorization theorem within Soft Collinear Effective Theory (SCET) where we consistently take into account in- and out-of-jet radiation by making use of semi-inclusive jet functions. For comparison, we elaborate on the differences to jet angularities measured on an exclusive jet sample. All the necessary ingredients for the resummation at next-to-leading logarithmic (NLL) accuracy are presented within the effective field theory framework. We expect semi-inclusive jet angularity measurements to be feasible at the LHC and we present theoretical predictions for the relevant kinematic range. In addition, we investigate the potential impact of jet angularities for quark-gluon discrimination.

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The transverse momentum distribution of hadrons within jets

We study the transverse momentum distribution of hadrons within jets, where the transverse momentum is defined with respect to the standard jet axis. We consider the case where the jet substructure measurement is performed for an inclusive jet sample $pp\to\text{jet}+X$. We demonstrate that this observable provides new opportunities to study transverse momentum dependent fragmentation functions (TMDFFs) which are currently poorly constrained from data, especially for gluons. The factorization of the cross section is obtained within Soft Collinear Effective Theory (SCET), and we show that the relevant TMDFFs are the same as for the more traditional processes semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS) and electron-positron annihilation. Different than in SIDIS, the observable for the in-jet fragmentation does not depend on TMD parton distribution functions which allows for a cleaner and more direct probe of TMDFFs. We present numerical results and compare to available data from the LHC.

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Collins azimuthal asymmetries of hadron production inside jets

We investigate the Collins azimuthal asymmetry of hadrons produced inside jets in transversely polarized proton-proton collisions. Recently, the quark transversity distributions and the Collins fragmentation functions have been extracted within global analyses from data of the processes semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering and electron-positron annihilation. We calculate the Collins azimuthal asymmetry for charged pions inside jets using these extractions for RHIC kinematics at center-of-mass energies of 200 and 500 GeV. We compare our results with recent data from the STAR Collaboration at RHIC and find good agreement, which confirms the universality of the Collins fragmentation functions. In addition, we further explore the impact of transverse momentum dependent evolution effects.

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