Non-Abelian Bremsstrahlung and Azimuthal Asymmetries in High Energy p+A Reactions

We apply the GLV reaction operator solution to the Vitev-Gunion-Bertsch (VGB) boundary conditions to compute the all-order in nuclear opacity non-abelian gluon bremsstrahlung of event-by-event fluctuating beam jets in nuclear collisions. We evaluate analytically azimuthal Fourier moments of single gluon, $v_n^M{1}$, and even number $2ell$ gluon, $v_n^M{2ell}$ inclusive distributions in high energy p+A reactions as a function of harmonic $n$, %independent target recoil cluster number, $M$, and gluon number, $2ell$, at RHIC and LHC. Multiple resolved clusters of recoiling target beam jets together with the projectile beam jet form Color Scintillation Antenna (CSA) arrays that lead to characteristic boost non-invariant trapezoidal rapidity distributions in asymmetric $B+A$ nuclear collisions. The scaling of intrinsically azimuthally anisotropic and long range in $eta$ nature of the non-abelian br leads to $v_n$ moments that are similar to results from hydrodynamic models, but due entirely to non-abelian wave interference phenomena sourced by the fluctuating CSA. Our analytic non-flow solutions are similar to recent numerical saturation model predictions but differ by predicting a simple power-law hierarchy of both even and odd $v_n$ without invoking $k_T$ factorization. A test of CSA mechanism is the predicted nearly linear $eta$ rapidity dependence of the $v_n(k_T,eta)$. Non-abelian beam jet br may thus provide a simple analytic solution to Beam Energy Scan (BES) puzzle of the near $sqrt{s}$ independence of $v_n(p_T)$ moments observed down to 10 AGeV where large $x$ valence quark beam jets dominate inelastic dynamics. Recoil br from multiple independent CSA clusters could also provide a partial explanation for the unexpected similarity of $v_n$ in $p(D)+A$ and non-central $A+A$ at same $dN/deta$ multiplicity as observed at RHIC and LHC.

The Z^0-tagged jet event asymmetry in heavy-ion collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

Tagged jet measurements provide a promising experimental channel to quantify the similarities and differences in the mechanisms of jet production in proton-proton and nucleus-nucleus collisions. We present the first calculation of the transverse momentum asymmetry of Z^0/gamma^*-tagged jet events in sqrt{s}=2.76$ TeV reactions at the LHC. Our results combine the O(G_Falpha_s^2) perturbative cross sections with the radiative and collisional processes that modify parton showers in the presence of dense QCD matter. We find that a strong asymmetry is generated in central lead-lead reactions that has little sensitivity to the fluctuations of the underlying soft hadronic background. We present theoretical model predictions for its shape and magnitude.

A brief overview of fixed-order perturbative QCD calculations of jet production in heavy-ion collisions

We review recent developments in the QCD description of jet production and modification in reactions with heavy nuclei at relativistic energies. Our goal is to formulate a perturbative expansion in the presence of nuclear matter that allows to systematically improve the accuracy of the theoretical predictions. As an example, we present calculations of inclusive jet cross sections at RHIC, Z0/gamma*-tagged jet cross sections at the LHC, and jet shapes that include both next-to-leading order perturbative effects and the effects of the nuclear medium.

Formation and decay of hadronic resonances in the QGP

Hadronic resonances can play a pivotal role in providing experimental evidence for partial chiral symmetry restoration in the deconfined quark-gluon phase produced at RHIC. Their lifetimes, which are comparable to the lifetime of the partonic plasma phase, make them an invaluable tool to study medium modifications to the resonant state due to the chiral transition. In this paper we show that the heavier, but still abundant, light and strange quark resonances K*, phi, Delta and Lambda* have large probability to be produced well within the plasma phase due to their short formation times. We demonstrate that, under particular kinematic conditions, these resonances can be formed and will decay inside the partonic state, but still carry sufficient momentum to not interact strongly with the hadronic medium after the QCD phase transition. Thus, K*, phi, Delta and Lambda* should exhibit the characteristic property modifications which can be attributed to chiral symmetry restoration, such as mass shifts, width broadening or branching ratio modifications.