Topic: Precision Study of Gluon Saturation: Experimental Analysis versus Theoretical Approach

Speaker: Assoc. Prof. Bowen Xiao

Coordinates: Classroom 2211, 16:00, Friday, Mar. 17

Abstract: The phenomenon of gluon saturation, described by the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) formalism, is one of the most intriguing topics in high-energy physics. It offers insight into the behavior of ultra-dense matter at extremely high energies and could help us better understand the dynamics of QCD. In high-energy hadrons, the density of gluons can become so high that they start interacting with each other in non-linear ways, resulting in saturation. Studying gluon saturation requires combining both experimental observations and theoretical computations. In this talk, after an introduction, I will review the progress made in the field and compare the experimental and theoretical approaches to studying gluon saturation. In particular, our recent NLO calculation significantly improves the stability of the CGC calculation for forward rapidity hadron production in pp and proton-nucleus collisions by incorporating threshold resummation in CGC. It also provides reliable descriptions of all existing data collected at RHIC and the LHC. Finally, I will present the outlook for the study of gluon saturation in the era of the upcoming Electron-Ion Collider in the next 10 to 20 years.