Effective Field Theory for Jet Processes

Resummation of Next-to-Leading Nonglobal Logarithms at the LHC

In cross sections with angular cuts, an intricate pattern of enhanced higher-order corrections known as nonglobal logarithms arises. The leading logarithmic terms were computed numerically two decades ago, but the resummation of subleading nonglobal logarithms remained a challenge that we solve in this Letter using renormalization group methods in effective field theory. To achieve next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy, we implement the two-loop anomalous dimension governing the resummation of nonglobal logarithms into a large-N_{c} parton shower framework, together with one-loop matching corrections. As a first application, we study the interjet energy flow in e^{+}e^{-} annihilation into two jets. We then present, for the first time, resummed predictions at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy for a gap-between-jets observable at hadron colliders.

Parton Showering with Higher Logarithmic Accuracy for Soft Emissions

The accuracy of parton-shower simulations is often a limiting factor in the interpretation of data from high-energy colliders. We present the first formulation of parton showers with accuracy 1 order beyond state-of-the-art next-to-leading logarithms, for classes of observables that are dominantly sensitive to low-energy (soft) emissions, specifically nonglobal observables and subjet multiplicities. This represents a major step toward general next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy for parton showers.

Resummation of Super-Leading Logarithms

Jet cross sections at high-energy colliders exhibit intricate patterns of logarithmically enhanced higher-order corrections. In particular, so-called nonglobal logarithms emerge from soft radiation emitted off energetic partons inside jets. While this is a single-logarithmic effect at lepton colliders, at hadron colliders phase factors in the amplitudes lead to double-logarithmic corrections starting at four-loop order. This effect was discovered a long time ago, but not much is known about the higher-order behavior of these terms and their process dependence. We derive, for the first time, the all-order structure of these "super-leading logarithms" for generic 2→l scattering processes at hadron colliders and resum them in closed form.

Jet Charge: A Flavor Prism for Spin Asymmetries at the Electron-Ion Collider

We propose the jet charge observable as a novel probe of flavor structure in the nucleon spin program at the electron ion collider (EIC) and develop the underlying framework from first principles. We show that jet charge measurements can substantially enhance the sensitivity of spin asymmetries to different partonic flavors in the nucleon. This sensitivity can be further improved by constructing the jet charge using only a subset of hadron species (pions or kaons) in the jet. As an example, we use the Sivers asymmetry in back-to-back electron-jet production at the EIC to show that the jet charge can be a unique tool in constraining the Sivers function for different partonic flavors.

Transverse-Momentum-Dependent Distributions with Jets

We investigate the use of jets to measure transverse-momentum-dependent distributions (TMDs). The example we use to present our framework is the dijet momentum decorrelation at lepton colliders. Translating this momentum decorrelation into an angle θ≪1, we analyze the factorization of the cross section for the cases θ≫R, θ∼R, and θ≪R, where R is the jet radius. Critically, for the winner-take-all axis, the jet TMD has the same double-scale renormalization group evolution as TMD fragmentation functions for all radii R. TMD fragmentation functions in factorization theorems may then simply be replaced by the jet TMDs we calculate, and all ingredients to perform the resummation to next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy are available. Our approach also applies to semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering, where a jet instead of a hadron is measured in the final state, and we find a clean method to probe the intrinsic transverse momentum of quarks and gluons in the proton that is less sensitive to final-state nonperturbative effects.

Threshold and Jet Radius Joint Resummation for Single-Inclusive Jet Production

We present the first threshold and jet radius jointly resummed cross section for single-inclusive hadronic jet production. We work at next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy and our framework allows for a systematic extension beyond the currently achieved precision. Long-standing numerical issues are overcome by performing the resummation directly in momentum space within soft collinear effective theory. We present the first numerical results for the LHC and observe an improved description of the available data. Our results are of immediate relevance for LHC precision phenomenology including the extraction of parton distribution functions and the QCD strong coupling constant.

Probing the Hardest Branching within Jets in Heavy-Ion Collisions

Heavy ion collisions present exciting opportunities to study the effects of quantum coherence in the formation of subatomic particle showers. We report on the first calculation of the momentum sharing and angular separation distributions between the leading subjets inside a reconstructed jet in such collisions. These observables are directly sensitive to the hardest branching within jets and can probe the early stage of the jet formation. We find that the leading-order medium-induced splitting functions, here obtained in the framework of soft-collinear effective theory with Glauber gluon interactions, capture the essential many-body physics, which is different from proton-proton reactions. Qualitative and in most cases quantitative agreement between theory and preliminary CMS measurements suggests that hard parton branching in strongly interacting matter can be dramatically modified. We also propose a new measurement that will illuminate its angular structure.