Parton distribution functions (PDFs) describe the structure of hadrons as composed of quarks and gluons. They are needed to make predictions for short-distance processes in high-energy collisions and are determined by fitting to cross section data. We review definitions of the PDFs and their relations to high-energy cross sections. We focus on the PDFs in protons, but also discuss PDFs in nuclei. We review in some detail the standard statistical treatment needed to fit the PDFs to data using the Hessian method. We discuss tests that can be used to critically examine whether the assumptions are indeed valid. We also present some ideas of what one can do in the case that the tests indicate that the assumptions fail.
It is shown that hadron abundances in high energy e+e-, pp and p{bar p} collisions, calculated by assuming that particles originate in hadron gas fireballs at thermal and partial chemical equilibrium, are in very good agreement with the data. The freeze-out temperature of the hadron gas fireballs turns out to be nearly constant over a large center of mass energy range and not dependent on the initial colliding system. The only deviation from chemical equilibrium resides in the incomplete strangeness phase space saturation. Preliminary results of an analysis of hadron abundances in S+S and S+Ag heavy ion collisions are presented.
We discuss the multiplicity distribution for highest accessible energies of $pp$- and $bar pp$- interactions from the point of view of the multiparton collisions. The inelastic cross sections for the single, $sigma_1$, and multiple (double and, presumably, triple, $sigma_{2+3}$) parton collisions are extracted from the analysis of the experimental data on the multiplicity distribution up to the Tevatron energies. It follows that $sigma_1$ becomes energy independent while $sigma_{2+3}$ increases with $sqrt{s}$ for $sqrt{s}ge$ 200 GeV. The observed growth of $<p_{perp}>$ with multiplicity is attributed to the increasing role of multiparton collisions for the high energy $bar pp(pp)$- inelastic interactions.
The hypothesis of limiting fragmentation (LF) or it is called otherwise recently, as extended longitudinal scaling, is an interesting phenomena in high energy multiparticle production process. This paper discusses about different regions of phase space and their importance in hadron production, giving special emphasis on the fragmentation region. Although it was conjectured as a universal phenomenon in high energy physics, with the advent of higher center-of-mass energies, it has become prudent to analyse and understand the validity of such hypothesis in view of the increasing inelastic nucleon-nucleon cross-section ($sigma_{rm in}$). In this work, we revisit the phenomenon of limiting fragmentation for nucleus-nucleus (A+A) collisions in the pseudorapidity distribution of charged particles at various energies. We use energy dependent $sigma_{rm in}$ to transform the charged particle pseudorapidity distributions ($dN^{rm AA}_{ch}/deta$) into differential cross-section per unit pseudorapidity ($dsigma^{rm AA}/deta$) of charged particles and study the phenomenon of LF. We find that in $dsigma^{rm AA}/deta$ LF seems to be violated at LHC energies while considering the energy dependent $sigma_{rm in}$. We also perform a similar study using A Multi-Phase Transport (AMPT) Model with string melting scenario and also find that LF is violated at LHC energies.
A brief historical review is made of the hadron-hadron (hh) total cross section and hadron-nucleus absorption cross section measurements, made mainly at high energy proton synchrotrons. Then I shall discuss low p_tprocesses, including diffraction processes and fragmentation of nuclei in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Nucleus-nucleus collisions at higher energy colliders are then considered, mainly in the context of the search for the gluon quark plasma. Conclusions and a short discussion on perspectives follow.
In this article, we review some of the complexities of jet algorithms and of the resultant comparisons of data to theory. We review the extensive experience with jet measurements at the Tevatron, the extrapolation of this acquired wisdom to the LHC and the differences between the Tevatron and LHC environments. We also describe a framework (SpartyJet) for the convenient comparison of results using different jet algorithms.