Predicting parton energy loss in small collision systems
Alexander Huss, Aleksi Kurkela, Aleksas Mazeliauskas, Risto Paatelainen, Wilke van der Schee, Urs Achim Wiedemann
备注：
19 pages, 14 figures, companion paper of "Discovering partonic rescattering in light nucleus collisions"; v2: small corrections and updates, published version
Medium induced parton energy loss is not conclusively established neither in very peripheral heavy-ion collisions nor in proton-ion collisions. However, the standard interpretation of azimuthal momentum anisotropies in theses systems implies some partonic rescattering. The upcoming light-ion runs at the LHC provide a unique opportunity to search for parton energy loss in different systems of similar size. Here, we make predictions for the expected parton energy loss signal in the charged hadron spectra in a system size scan at LHC. We test a large set of model assumptions against the transverse momentum and centrality dependence of the charged hadron nuclear modification factor in lead-lead and xenon-xenon collisions at the LHC. We then attempt to make a model agnostic prediction for the charged hadron nuclear modification factor in oxygen-oxygen collisions.
We propose a new method to determine the spatially or impact-parameter dependent nuclear parton distribution functions (nPDFs) using the double parton scattering (DPS) processes in high-energy heavy-ion (proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus) collisions. We derive a simple generic DPS formula in nuclear collisions by accommodating both the nuclear collision geometry and the spatially dependent nuclear modification effect, under the assumption that the impact-parameter dependence of nPDFs is only related to the nuclear thickness function. While the geometric effect is widely adopted, the impact of…
A generic expression to compute triple parton scattering (TPS) cross sections in high-energy proton-proton (pp) collisions is presented as a function of the corresponding single-parton cross sections and the transverse parton distribution in the proton encoded in an effective parameter $σ_{\rm eff,TPS}$. The value of $σ_{\rm eff,TPS}$ is closely related to the similar effective cross section that characterizes double-parton scatterings, and amounts to $σ_{\rm eff,TPS} = 12.5 \pm 4.5$ mb. Estimates for triple charm ($\rm c\overline{c}$) and bottom ($\rm b\overline{b}$) production in pp collisio…
We present predictions for the double parton scattering (DPS) four-jet production cross sections in $pA$ collisions at the LHC. Relying on the experimental capabilities to correlate centrality with impact parameter $B$ of the proton-nucleus collision, we discuss a strategy to extract the double parton scattering contributions in $pA$ collisions, which gives direct access to double parton distribution in the nucleon. We show that the production cross sections via DPS of four jets, out of which two may be light- or heavy-quark jets, are large enough to allow the method to be used already with da…
Simple generic expressions to compute double-parton scattering (DPS) cross sections in high-energy proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions, as a function of the corresponding single-parton cross sections, are presented. Estimates of DPS contributions are studied for two specific processes at LHC energies: (i) same-sign W-boson pair production in p-Pb, and (ii) double-J/psi production in Pb-Pb, using NLO predictions with nuclear parton densities for the corresponding single-parton cross sections. The expected DPS cross sections and event rates after typical acceptance and efficiency losse…
We demonstrate that oxygen-oxygen (OO) collisions at the LHC provide unprecedented sensitivity to parton energy loss in a system whose size is comparable to those created in very peripheral heavy-ion collisions. With leading and next-to-leading order calculations of nuclear modification factors, we show that the baseline in the absence of partonic rescattering is known with up to 2% theoretical accuracy in inclusive OO collisions. Surprisingly, a $Z$-boson normalized nuclear modification factor does not lead to higher theoretical accuracy within current uncertainties of nuclear parton distribu…
We explore parton collisional effects on the conversion of geometry eccentricities into azimuthal anisotropies in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV using a multi-phase transport model. The initial eccentricity $\varepsilon_{n}$ (n = 2,3) and flow harmonics $v_{n}$ (n = 2,3) are investigated as a function of the number of parton collisions ($N_{coll}$) during the source evolution of partonic phase. It is found that partonic collisions leads to generate elliptic flow $v_{2}$ and triangular flow $v_{3}$ in Pb+Pb collisions. On the other hand, partonic collisions also result in an evo…
Higher-order anisotropic flows $v_{4}$ and $v_{6}$ in heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider are studied in a multiphase transport model that has previously been used successfully for describing the elliptic flow $v_2$ in these collisions. We find that the same parton scattering cross section of about 10 \textrm{mb} used in explaining the measured $v_2$ can also reproduce the recent data on $v_{4}$ and $v_{6}$ from Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ \textrm{AGeV}. It is further found that the $% v_{4}$ is a more sensitive probe of the initial partonic dynamics in these c…
The production process of quarkonia in proton-proton (pp) collision is a very good probe of the parton structure of the proton. Recent experimental data of the production of J/psi+vector boson or quarkonium pairs at the LHC and Tevatron suggest the relevance of double parton scatterings (DPS). We discuss here the single parton scattering (SPS) contribution to the J/psi +Z, J/psi +W, and J/psi +J/psi productions in hadron collisions. By revisiting the computations of the SPS contributions to the J/psi+Z and J/psi +W productions, we demonstrate that the ATLAS data in fact show evidence for DPS.
We evaluate the spectra of produced particles (pions, kaons, antiprotons) from partonic cascades which may develop in the wake of heavy-ion collisions at CERN SPS energies and which may hadronize by formation of clusters which decay into hadrons. Using the experimental data obtained by NA35 and NA44 collaborations for S+S and Pb+Pb collisions, we conclude that the Monte Carlo implementation of the recently developed parton-cascade/cluster-hadronization model provides a reasonable description of the distributions of the particles produced in such collisions. While the rapidity distribution of t…
We examine Pb+Pb collisions at CERN SPS energy 158 A GeV, by employing the earlier developed and recently refined parton-cascade/cluster-hadronization model and its Monte Carlo implementation. This space-time model involves the dynamical interplay of perturbative QCD parton production and evolution, with non-perturbative parton-cluster formation and hadron production through cluster decays. Using computer simulations, we are able to follow the entwined time-evolution of parton and hadron degrees of freedom in both position and momentum space, from the instant of nuclear overlap to the final yi…
We present results on Zjj production via double parton scattering in pA collisions at the LHC. We perform the analysis at leading and next-leading order accuracy with different sets of cuts on jet transverse momenta and accounting for the single parton scattering background. By exploiting the experimental capability to measure the centrality dependence of the cross section, we discuss the feasibility of DPS observation in already collected data at the LHC and in future runs.
We examine the qualitative features of parton production through materialization in heavy-ion collisions within perturbative QCD, and estimate the magnitude of the resulting parton density created during the early stage of the collisions. The implications for ``anomalous'' $J/ψ$ suppression observed in Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS are discussed. We argue that the A-dependence of absorption of $J/ψ$ by (partonic) comovers is steeper than assumed in most phenomenological models, because the absorption process is dominated by quasi-perturbative QCD interactions. Our argument is supported by r…
The production of same-sign W-boson pairs from double parton scatterings (DPS) in proton-lead (p-Pb) collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider is studied. The signal and background cross sections are estimated with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations using nuclear parton distribution functions for the Pb ion. At sqrt(sNN) = 8.8 TeV the cross section for the DPS process is about 150 pb, i.e. 600 times larger than that in proton-proton collisions at the same centre-of-mass energy and 1.5 times higher than the pPb --> WW+2-jets single-parton background. The measurement of such …
Cross sections for the concurrent production of pairs of quarkonia (J/psi, Upsilon) and/or gauge bosons (W, Z) from double-parton scatterings (DPS) in high-energy proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC are calculated. The estimates are based on next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions, including nuclear modifications of the parton densities, for the corresponding single-scattering cross sections. Expected event rates for J/psi+J/psi, J/psi+Upsilon, J/psi+W, J/psi+Z, Upsilon+Upsilon, Upsilon+W, Upsilon+Z, and same-sign W+W production in their (di)leptonic decay modes…
Deeply inelastic scattering of electrons off nuclei can determine whether parton distributions saturate at HERA energies. If so, this phenomenon will also tell us a great deal about how particles are produced, and whether they equilibrate, in high energy nuclear collisions.
VNI is a general-purpose Monte-Carlo event-generator, which includes the simulation of lepton-lepton, lepton-hadron, lepton-nucleus, hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions. On the basis of renormalization-group improved parton description and quantum-kinetic theory, it uses the real-time evolution of parton cascades in conjunction with a self-consistent hadronization scheme that is governed by the dynamics itself. The causal evolution from a specific initial state (determined by the colliding beam particles) is followed by the time-development of the phase-space densitie…
We show that the incoherent elastic scattering of partons, as present in a multi-phase transport model (AMPT), with a modest parton-parton cross-section of $σ=1.5 - 3$ mb, naturally explains the long-range two-particle azimuthal correlation as observed in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions at the Large Hadron Collider.
In this note we discuss how angular distribution of the dileptons produced in heavy ion collisions at RHIC/LHC energies can provide an information about a degree of local equilibration of the quark-gluon plasma produced at different invariant mass regions.
The effects of parton energy loss and pT-broadening in cold nuclear matter on the pT and centrality dependence, at various rapidities, of J/psi suppression in p-A collisions are investigated. Calculations are systematically compared to E866 and PHENIX measurements. The very good agreement between the data and the theoretical expectations further supports pT-broadening and the associated medium-induced parton energy loss as dominant effects in J/psi suppression in high-energy p-A collisions. Predictions for J/psi (and Upsilon) suppression in p-Pb collisions at the LHC are given.
We estimate the energy loss distribution and investigate the quenching of hadron spectra in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions due to the collisional energy loss of energetic partons from hard parton collisions in the initial stage.
We extract the early parton momentum distribution using the STAR Collaboration data of ridge particles associated with a near-side jet in central AuAu collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV. The ridge particles are identified as medium partons kicked by the jet near the surface and they carry direct information on the parton momentum distribution at the moment of jet-parton collisions. The extracted parton momentum distribution has a thermal-like transverse momentum distribution but a rapidity plateau structure with a relatively flat rapidity distribution at mid-rapidities with sharp kinematic bo…
A generic expression to compute triple parton scattering (TPS) cross sections in high-energy proton-nucleus (pA) collisions is derived as a function of the corresponding single-parton cross sections and an effective parameter encoding the transverse parton profile of the proton. The TPS cross sections are enhanced by a factor of $9\,A\approx 2000$ in pPb compared to those in proton-nucleon collisions at the same center-of-mass energy. Estimates for triple charm ($c\overline{c}$) and bottom ($b\overline{b}$) production in pPb collisions at LHC and FCC energies are presented based on next-to-nex…
We introduce a Monte Carlo space-time model for high-energy collisions with nuclei, involving the dynamical interplay of perturbative QCD parton production and evolution, with non-perturbative parton-cluster formation and `afterburner' cascading of formed pre-hadronic clusters plus hadron excitations. This approach allows us to trace the space-time history of parton and hadron degrees of freedom of nuclear collisions on the microscopical level of parton and hadron cascades in both position and momentum space, from the instant of nuclear overlap to the final yield of particles. In applying this…
A generic expression of double-parton scattering cross sections in high-energy nucleus-nucleus (A-A) collisions is derived as a function of the corresponding single-parton hard cross sections and of the A-A event centrality. We consider the case of prompt-J/psi production in lead-lead (Pb-Pb) at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and find that about 20% (35%) of the J/psi events in minimum-bias (most central) collisions contain a second J/psi from double parton interactions. In Pb-Pb at 5.5 TeV, in the absence of final-state effects, about 240 double-J/psi events are expected per unit midrapidity …
We discuss hadron production in heavy ion collisions at RHIC. We argue that hadrons at transverse momenta P_T < 5 GeV are formed by recombination of partons from the dense parton phase created in central collisions at RHIC. We provide a theoretical description of the recombination process for P_T > 2 GeV. Below P_T = 2 GeV our results smoothly match a purely statistical description. At high transverse momentum hadron production is well described in the language of perturbative QCD by the fragmentation of partons. We give numerical results for a variety of hadron spectra, ratios and nuclear sup…
Within the framework of generalized collinear factorization in perturbative QCD (pQCD), we study the effect of initial multiple parton scattering and induced parton energy loss in Drell-Yan (DY) process in proton-nucleus collisions. We express the contribution from multiple parton scattering and induced gluon radiation to the DY dilepton spectra in terms of nuclear modified effective beam quark distribution functions. The modification depends on the quark transport parameter in nuclear medium. This is similar to the final-state multiple parton scattering in deeply inelastic scattering (DIS) of…
Screening of initial parton production due to the presence of on-shell partons in high-energy heavy-ion collisions is discussed. It is shown that the divergent cross sections in the calculation of parton production can be regulated self-consistently without an {\it ad hoc} cut-off, and that the resultant parton production and transverse energy production rate are finite. Consequences on the energy density estimates are discussed.
We present a study of three-particle correlations among a trigger particle and two associated particles in Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV using a multi-phase transport model (AMPT) with both partonic and hadronic interactions. We found that three-particle correlation densities in different angular directions with respect to the triggered particle (`center', `cone', `deflected', `near' and `near-away') increase with the number of participants. The ratio of `deflected' to `cone' density approaches to 1.0 with the increasing of number of participants, which indicates that partoni…
Anisotropies of hadronic distribution in nuclear collisions are used for determination of properties of the nuclear matter. At the LHC it is important to account for the contribution to the flow due to momentum transferred from hard partons to the quark-gluon plasma.
Multiple parton scatterings in high-energy p+A collisions involve multi-parton correlation inside the projectile and color coherence of multiple jets which will lead to nuclear modification of final hadron spectra relative to that in p+p collisions. Such modification of final hadron spectra in p+A collisions is studied within HIJING 2.1 model which includes initial parton shadowing, transverse momentum broadening, parton flavor and momentum correlation inside the projectile through flavor and momentum conservation and fragmentation of multiple jets. They are shown to modify the partonic flavor…
The effects of parton energy loss in cold nuclear matter on heavy-quarkonium suppression in p-A collisions are studied. It is shown from first principles that at large quarkonium energy E and small production angle in the nucleus rest frame, the medium-induced energy loss scales as E. Using this result, a phenomenological model depending on a single free parameter is able to reproduce J/psi and Upsilon suppression data in a broad xF-range and at various center-of-mass energies. These results strongly support energy loss as the dominant effect in heavy-quarkonium suppression in p-A collisions. …
Based on the result in our previous work, we calculate the polarization of quarks from parton scatterings in high energy heavy ion collisions. The result is compared with the STAR data at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV.
The high rates of multi-parton interactions at the LHC can provide a unique opportunity to study the multi-parton structure of the hadron. To this purpose high energy collisions of protons with nuclei are particularly suitable. The rates of multi-parton interactions depend in fact both on the partonic multiplicities and on the distributions of partons in transverse space, which produce different effects on the cross section in pA collisions, as a function of the atomic mass number A. Differently with respect to the case of multi-parton interactions in pp collisions, the possibility of changing…
We study the production of bottom quarks in $pp$ collisions at Large Hadron Collider energies using previously developed parton cascade model to explore the impact of Landau Pomeranchuk Midgal (LPM) effect on their dynamics. In contrast to the case for charm quarks reported recently, we find only a marginal impact of the suppression of multiple scatterings of partons due to the LPM effect on their production. It is felt that this happens as they are only produced in very hard collisions.
We derive expressions for the differential distributions and the total cross section of double- parton interaction in direct photon interaction with proton and nuclei. We demonstrate that in this case the cross section is more directly related to the nucleon generalized parton distribution than in the case of double parton interactions in the proton - proton collisions. We focus on the production of two dijets each containing charm (anticharm) quarks and carrying $x_1,x_2>0.2$ fractions of the photon momentum. Numerical results are presented for the case of $γp$ collisions at LHeC, HERA and in…
We discuss a standard model of heavy ion collisions that has emerged both from the experimental results of the RHIC program and associated theoretical developments. We comment briefly on the impact of early results of the LHC program on this picture. We consider how this standard model of heavy ion collisions could be solidified or falsified in future experiments at RHIC, the LHC and a future Electron-Ion Collider.
Using the string melting version of a multiphase transport model, we focus on the evolution of thermodynamic properties of the central cell of parton matter produced in Au$+$Au collisions ranging from 200 GeV down to 2.7 GeV. The temperature and chemical potentials have been calculated based on both Boltzmann and quantum statistics in order to locate their evolution trajectories in the QCD phase diagram. We demonstrate that the trajectories can depend on many physical factors, especially the finite nuclear thickness at lower energies. However, from the evolution of pressure anisotropy, only pa…
The framework to compute the cross sections for the production of particles with high mass and/or large transverse momentum in double- (DPS), triple- (TPS), and in general $n$-parton scatterings, from the corresponding single-parton ($σ_{\rm SPS}$) values in high-energy proton-proton, proton-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus is reviewed. The basic parameter of the factorized $n$-parton scattering ansatz is an effective cross section $σ_{\rm eff}$ encoding all unknowns about the underlying generalized $n$-parton distribution in the proton (nucleon). In its simplest and most economical form, the $σ_{…
The dynamics of partons and hadrons in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for the partonic phase (DQPM) including a dynamical hadronization scheme. The PHSD approach is applied to nucleus-nucleus collisions from low SPS to LHC energies. The traces of partonic interactions are found in particular in the elliptic flow of hadrons and in their transverse mass spectra. We investigate also the equilibrium properties of strongly-interacting infinite parton-hadro…
The scale factor $σ_{eff}$, which characterizes double parton collisions in high energy hadron interactions, is a direct manifestation of the distribution of the interacting partons in transverse space, in such a way that different distributions give rise to different values of $σ_{eff}$ in different double parton collision processes. We work out the value of the scale factor in a few reactions of interest, in a correlated model of the multi-parton density of the proton recently proposed.
A pQCD-based model for parton production and equilibration in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions is reviewed. The model combines pQCD processes including initial and final state radiations together with string phenomenology for nonperturbative soft processes. Nuclear effects on the initial parton production, such as multiple parton scattering and nuclear shadowing of parton distribution functions are considered. Comparisons with existing data are made and further tests of the model to constrain model parameters are proposed. With the obtained space-time history of the parton production, ev…
We estimate the energy density pile-up at mid-rapidity in central Pb+Pb collisions from 2 - 200 GeV/nucleon. The energy density is decomposed into hadronic and partonic contributions. A detailed analysis of the collision dynamics in the framework of a microscopic transport model shows the importance of partonic degrees of freedom and rescattering of leading (di)quarks in the early phase of the reaction for lab-energies > 30 GeV/nucleon. In Pb+Pb collisions at 160 GeV/nucleon the energy density reaches up to 4 GeV/fm^3, 95% of which are contained in partonic degrees of freedom.
We investigate the processes leading to phase-space equilibration of parton distributions in nuclear interactions at collider energies. We derive a set of rate equations describing the chemical equilibration of gluons and quarks including medium effects on the relevant QCD transport coefficients, and discuss their consequences for parton equilibration in heavy ion collisions.
The effects of energy loss in cold nuclear matter on J/psi suppression in p-A collisions are studied. A simple model based on first principles and depending on a single free parameter is able to reproduce J/psi suppression data at large xF and at various center-of-mass energies. These results strongly support energy loss as a dominant effect in quarkonium suppression. They also give some hint on its hadroproduction mechanism suggesting color neutralization to happen on long time-scales. Predictions for J/psi and Upsilon suppression in p-Pb collisions at the LHC are made.
Medium effects which include color screening and Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal suppression of induced radiation are discussed in connection with the equilibration of dense partonic system in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. Taking into account of these medium effects, the equilibration rate for a gluonic gas are derived and the consequences are discussed.
The azimuthal anisotropies of the collective transverse flow of charged hadrons are investigated in a wide range of heavy-ion collision energies within the microscopic parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach which incorporates explicit partonic degrees of freedom in terms of strongly interacting quasiparticles (quarks and gluons) in line with an equation of state from lattice QCD as well as the dynamical hadronization and hadronic collision dynamics in the final reaction phase. The experimentally observed increase of the elliptic flow $v_2$ of charged hadrons with collision ene…
We analyze the suppression of particle production at large transverse momenta in ($0-5%$ most) central collisions of gold nuclei at $\sqrt{s_\textrm{NN}}=$ 200 GeV and lead nuclei at $\sqrt{s_{\textrm{NN}}}=$ 2.76 TeV. Full next-to-leading order radiative corrections at ${\cal{O}}(α_s^3)$, and nuclear effects like shadowing and parton energy loss are included. The parton energy loss is implemented in a simple multiple scattering model, where the partons lose an energy $ε=λ\times dE/dx$ per collision, where $λ$ is their mean free path. We take $ε=κE$ for a treatment which is suggestive of the B…
The space and time evolution of initial parton production in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions is investigated within the framework of perturbative QCD which includes both initial and final state radiations. Uncertainty principle is used to relate the life time of a radiating parton to its virtuality and momentum. The interaction time of each hard or semihard parton scattering is also taken into account. For central $Au+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV, most of the partons are found to be produced within 0.5 fm/c after the total overlap of the two colliding nuclei. The local momentum …
We analyze the recent data from the BRAHMS Collaboration on the pseudorapidity dependence of nuclear modification factors in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV by using the full three dimensional hydrodynamic simulations for the density effects on parton energy loss. We first compute the transverse spectra at $η=0$ and 2.2, and next take a ratio $R_η=R_{AA}(η=2.2)/R_{AA}(η=0)$, where $R_{AA}$ is a nuclear modification factor. It is shown that hydrodynamic components account for $R_η\simeq 1$ at low $p_\mathrm{T}$ and that quenched pQCD components lead $R_η < 1$ at high $p_\mathrm{T}…
Evolution of anisotropy in momentum and coordinate space of the parton system produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions is discussed within the free-streaming approximation. The momentum distribution evolves from the prolate shape - elongated along the beam - to the oblate one - squeezed along the beam. At the same time the eccentricity in the coordinate space, which occurs at finite values of impact parameter, decreases. It is argued that the parton system reaches local thermodynamic equilibrium before the momentum distribution becomes oblate.
Energetic partons traveling in a strongly interacting medium lose energy by emitting radiation and through collisions with medium constituents. Non-perturbative, next-to-leading order and leading order collision kernels are implemented within AMY-McGill formalism. The resulting gluon emission rates are then evaluated and compared by considering scattering occurring in a brick of quark-gluon plasma, as well as in a realistic simulation of Pb-Pb, collisions at $\sqrt{s}=2.76$ ATeV using MARTINI. We find that the variations in quenching of hard partons resulting from using different kernels can b…
The joint study of Double Parton Scatterings, in high energy proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions, can provide a lot of information on multi-parton correlations. The multi-parton structure is in fact probed in a different way by DPS, in $p$-$p$ and in $p$-$A$ collisions. In $p$-$A$ collisions the interpretation of the experimental results may be however complicated by the presence of interference terms, which are missing in $p$-$p$. A suitable reaction channel, where interference terms are absent, is $WJJ$ production. By studying $WJJ$ production in $p$-$Pb$ collisions, we estimate that…
We calculate production rates for several hard processes in ultraperipheral proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the LHC. The resulting high rates demonstrate that some key directions in small $x$ research proposed for HERA will be accessible at the LHC through these ultraperipheral processes. Indeed, these measurements can extend the HERA $x$ range by roughly a factor of 10 for similar virtualities. Nonlinear effects on the parton densities will thus be significantly more important in these collisions than at HERA.
We examine the effects of color screening on the transition of a parton plasma into a hadron gas at RHIC energies. It is found that as expected, color screening posed itself as a significant barrier for hadronization. Parton-hadron conversion would therefore be delayed and prolonged when compared to that occuring in a vacuum. Due to the on-going expansion, the resulting hadron densities are lowered. Parton equilibration is also shown to be seriously disrupted in the process.
Inclusive cross sections for pion production in $pp$ collisions are calculated for the first time fully based on unintegrated gluon, quark and antiquark distributions (uPDF). We use recently developed Kwieciński uPDF's and different phenomenological fragmentation functions (FF) from the literature. In addition to the $gg \to g$ diagram we include also $g q \to q$ and $q g \to q$ diagrams for inclusive parton production. The cross section for pions is obtained then by convoluting the inclusive parton distributions and FFs. Applications for SPS and RHIC are shown.
We demonstrate that perturbative QCD leads to positive 3D parton--parton correlations inside nucleon explaining a factor two enhancement of the cross section of multi-parton interactions observed at Tevatron at $x_i\ge 0.01$ as compared to the predictions of the independent parton approximation. We also find that though perturbative correlations decrease with $x$ decreasing, the nonperturbative mechanism kicks in and should generate correlation which, at $x$ below $10^{-3}$, is comparable in magnitude with the perturbative one for $x\sim 0.01$.
The effect of medium-induced parton energy loss on jet fragmentation is studied in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. It is shown that an effective jet fragmentation function can be extracted from the inclusive $p_T$ spectrum of charged particles in the opposite direction of a tagged direct photon with a fixed transverse energy. We study the modification of the effective jet fragmentation function due to parton energy loss in AA as compared to pp collisions, including $E_T$ smearing from initial state radiations for the photon-tagged jets. The effective fragmentation function at $z=p_T/E_T^γ\si…
