No Arabic abstract
These notes provide a comprehensive review of the semiclassical approach for calculating multiparticle production rates for initial states with few particles at very high energies. In this work we concentrate on a scalar field theory with a mass gap. Specifically, we look at a weakly-coupled theory in the high-energy limit, where the number of particles in the final state scales with energy, $nsim Eto infty$, and the coupling $lambdato 0$ with $n lambda$ held fixed. In this regime, the semiclasical approach allows us to calculate multiparticle rates non-perturbatively.
Theoretical and experimental studies of high multiplicity events are analyzed. Some interesting phenomena can be revealed at high multiplicities. Preliminary results of project Thermalization are reported.
Calculations of high-energy processes involving the production of a large number of particles in weakly-coupled quantum field theories have previously signaled the need for novel non-perturbative behavior or even new physical phenomena. In some scenarios, already tree-level computations may enter the regime of large-order perturbation theory and therefore require a careful investigation. We demonstrate that in scalar quantum field theories with a unique global minimum, where suitably resummed perturbative expansions are expected to capture all relevant physical effects, perturbation theory may still suffer from severe shortcomings in the high-energy regime. As an example, we consider the computation of multiparticle threshold amplitudes of the form $1 to n$ in $varphi^6$ theory with a positive mass term, and show that they violate unitarity of the quantum theory for large $n$, even after the resummation of all leading-$n$ quantum corrections. We further argue that this is a generic feature of scalar field theories with higher-order self-interactions beyond $varphi^4$, thereby rendering the latter unique with respect to its high-energy behavior.
Multiparticle production processes provide valuable information about the mechanism of the conversion of the initial energy of projectiles into a number of secondaries by measuring their multiplicity distributions and their distributions in phase space. They therefore serve as a reference point for more involved measurements. Distributions in phase space are usually investigated using the statistical approach, very successful in general but failing in cases of small colliding systems, small multiplicities, and at the edges of the allowed phase space, in which cases the underlying dynamical effects competing with the statistical distributions take over. We discuss an alternative approach, which applies to the whole phase space without detailed knowledge of dynamics. It is based on a modification of the usual statistics by generalizing it to a superstatistical form. We stress particularly the scaling and self-similar properties of such an approach manifesting themselves as the phenomena of the log-periodic oscillations and oscillations of temperature caused by sound waves in hadronic matter. Concerning the multiplicity distributions we discuss in detail the phenomenon of the oscillatory behaviour of the modified combinants apparently observed in experimental data.
Monte Carlo event simulation with BFKL evolution is discussed. We report current status of a Monte Carlo event generator ULYSSES with BFKL evolution implemented. The ULYSSES, based on Pythia Monte Carlo generator, would help to reveal BFKL effects at LHC energies. In particular, such an observable as dijet K-factor can serve as a source of BFKL dynamics at the LHC, and it would also help to search for new physics.
As shown recently, one can obtain additional information from the measured charged particle multiplicity distributions, $P(N)$, by investigating the so-called modified combinants, $C_j$, extracted from them. This information is encoded in the observed specific oscillatory behaviour of $C_j$, which phenomenologically can be described only by some combinations of compound distributions based on the Binomial Distribution. So far this idea has been checked in $pp$ and $e^+e^-$ processes (where observed oscillations are spectacularly strong). In this paper, we continue observation of multiparticle production from the modified combinants perspective by investigating dependencies of the observed oscillatory patterns on type of colliding particles, their energies and the phase space where they are observed. We also offer some tentative explanations based on different types of compound distributions and stochastic branching processes.