Search

We provide an overview of the status of Monte-Carlo event generators for high-energy particle physics. Guided by the experimental needs and requirements, we highlight areas of active development, and opportunities for future improvements. Particular emphasis is given to physics models and algorithms that are employed across a variety of experiments. These common themes in event generator development lead to a more comprehensive understanding of physics at the highest energies and intensities, and allow models to be tested against a wealth of data that have been accumulated over the past decades. A cohesive approach to event generator development will allow these models to be further improved and systematic uncertainties to be reduced, directly contributing to future experimental success. Event generators are part of a much larger ecosystem of computational tools. They typically involve a number of unknown model parameters that must be tuned to experimental data, while maintaining the integrity of the underlying physics models. Making both these data, and the analyses with which they have been obtained accessible to future users is an essential aspect of open science and data preservation. It ensures the consistency of physics models across a variety of experiments., Comment: 164 pages, 10 figures, contribution to Snowmass 2021

Theoretical predictions for particle production cross sections and decays at colliders rely heavily on perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) calculations, expressed as an expansion in powers of the strong coupling constant $\alpha_s$. The current $\mathcal{O}(1\%)$ uncertainty of the QCD coupling evaluated at the reference Z boson mass, $\alpha_s(m_Z) = 0.1179 \pm 0.0009$, is one of the limiting factors to more precisely describe multiple processes at current and future colliders. A reduction of this uncertainty is thus a prerequisite to perform precision tests of the Standard Model as well as searches for new physics. This report provides a comprehensive summary of the state-of-the-art, challenges, and prospects in the experimental and theoretical study of the strong coupling. The current $\alpha_s(m_Z)$ world average is derived from a combination of seven categories of observables: (i) lattice QCD, (ii) hadronic $\tau$ decays, (iii) deep-inelastic scattering and parton distribution functions fits, (iv) electroweak boson decays, hadronic final-states in (v) $e^+e^-$, (vi) e-p, and (vii) p-p collisions, and (viii) quarkonia decays and masses. We review the current status of each of these seven $\alpha_s(m_Z)$ extraction methods, discuss novel $\alpha_s$ determinations, and examine the averaging method used to obtain the world-average value. Each of the methods discussed provides a ``wish list'' of experimental and theoretical developments required in order to achieve the goal of a per-mille precision on $\alpha_s(m_Z)$ within the next decade., Comment: 135 pages, 45 figures. White paper for the "Energy Frontier Proceedings of the US Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics" (Snowmass 2021). Matches JPG published version

Using a recently-developed perturbative-QCD approach for jet evolution in a dense quark-gluon plasma, we study the nuclear modification factor for the jet fragmentation function. The qualitative behaviour that we find is in agreement with the respective experimental observations in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC: a pronounced nuclear enhancement at both ends of the spectrum. Our Monte Carlo simulations are supplemented with analytic estimates which clarify the physical interpretation of the results. The main source of theoretical uncertainty is the sensitivity of our calculations to a low-momentum cutoff which mimics confinement. To reduce this sensitivity, we propose a new observable, which describes the jet fragmentation into subjets and is infrared-and-collinear safe by construction. We present Monte Carlo predictions for the associated nuclear modification factor together with their physical interpretation., Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures, to appear in JHEP

This Report summarizes the proceedings of the 2019 Les Houches workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Session 1 dealt with (I) new developments for high precision Standard Model calculations, (II) the sensitivity of parton distribution functions to the experimental inputs, (III) new developments in jet substructure techniques and a detailed examination of gluon fragmentation at the LHC, (IV) issues in the theoretical description of the production of Standard Model Higgs bosons and how to relate experimental measurements, and (V) Monte Carlo event generator studies relating to PDF evolution and comparisons of important processes at the LHC., Comment: Proceedings of the Standard Model Working Group of the 2019 Les Houches Workshop, Physics at TeV Colliders, Les Houches 10-28 June 2019. 226 pages

When computed to next-to-leading order in perturbative QCD, the non-linear Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) equation for the high-energy evolution of the dipole-hadron scattering appears to be unstable. We show that this instability can be avoided by using the rapidity of the dense hadronic target (instead of that of the dilute dipole projectile) as the evolution time. Using this variable, we construct a collinearly-improved version of the BK equation, where the dominant radiative corrections to the kernel -- those enhanced by double collinear logarithms -- are resummed to all orders., Comment: Presented at the XXVIIIth International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2019), Wuhan, China

Within the framework of the dipole factorisation, we use a recent collinearly-improved version of the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation to fit the HERA data for inclusive deep inelastic scattering at small Bjorken $x$. The equation includes an all-order resummation of double and single transverse logarithms and running coupling corrections. Compared to similar equations previously proposed in the literature, this work makes a direct use of Bjorken $x$ as the rapidity scale for the evolution variable. We obtain excellent fits for reasonable values for the four fit parameters. We find that the fit quality improves when including resummation effects and a physically-motivated initial condition. In particular, the resummation of the DGLAP-like single transverse logarithms has a sizeable impact and allows one to extend the fit up to relatively large photon virtuality $Q^2$., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables

The next-to-leading order (NLO) Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) equation describing the high-energy evolution of the scattering between a dilute projectile and a dense target suffers from instabilities unless it is supplemented by a proper resummation of the radiative corrections enhanced by (anti-)collinear logarithms. Earlier studies have shown that if one expresses the evolution in terms of the rapidity of the dilute projectile, the dominant anti-collinear contributions can be resummed to all orders. However, in applications to physics, the results must be re-expressed in terms of the rapidity of the dense target. We show that although they lead to stable evolution equations, resummations expressed in the rapidity of the dilute projectile show a strong, unwanted, scheme dependence when their results are translated in terms of the target rapidity. Instead, in this paper, we work directly in the rapidity of the dense target where anti-collinear contributions are absent but where new, collinear, instabilities arise. These are milder since disfavoured by the typical BK evolution. We propose several prescriptions for resumming these new double logarithms and find only little scheme dependence. The resummed equations are non-local in rapidity and can be extended to full NLO accuracy., Comment: 74 pages, 12 figures

We study the fragmentation of a jet propagating in a dense quark-gluon plasma. We show that the "vacuum-like" emissions triggered by the parton virtualities can be factorized from the medium-induced radiation responsible for the energy loss within a controlled, "double-logarithmic", approximation in perturbative QCD. We show that the collisions with the plasma constituents modify the vacuum-like parton shower already at leading twist, in two ways: the radiation phase-space is reduced and the first emission outside the medium can violate angular ordering. We compute the jet fragmentation function and find results in qualitative agreement with measurements at the LHC., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of Quark Matter 2018 (14-19 May 2018. Venice, Italy)

We study a puzzle raised recently regarding the running coupling prescription used in the calculation of forward particle production in proton-nucleus collisions at next-to-leading order: using a coordinate space prescription which is consistent with the one used in the high energy evolution of the target leads to results which can be two orders of magnitude larger than the ones obtained with a momentum space prescription. We show that this is an artefact of the Fourier transform involved when passing between coordinate and momentum space and propose a new coordinate space prescription which avoids this problem., Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure. Quark Matter 2018 proceedings

This Report summarizes the proceedings of the 2017 Les Houches workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Session 1 dealt with (I) new developments relevant for high precision Standard Model calculations, (II) theoretical uncertainties and dataset dependence of parton distribution functions, (III) new developments in jet substructure techniques, (IV) issues in the theoretical description of the production of Standard Model Higgs bosons and how to relate experimental measurements, (V) phenomenological studies essential for comparing LHC data from Run II with theoretical predictions and projections for future measurements, and (VI) new developments in Monte Carlo event generators., Comment: Proceedings of the Standard Model Working Group of the 2017 Les Houches Workshop, Physics at TeV Colliders, Les Houches 5-23 June 2017. 314 pages

We study the fragmentation of a jet propagating in a dense quark-gluon plasma. Using a leading, double-logarithmic approximation in perturbative QCD, we compute for the first time the effects of the medium on the vacuum-like emissions. We show that, due to the scatterings off the plasma, the in-medium parton showers differ from the vacuum ones in two crucial aspects: their phase-space is reduced and the first emission outside the medium can violate angular ordering. We compute the jet fragmentation function and find results in qualitative agreement with measurements at the LHC., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We address and solve a puzzle raised by a recent calculation [1] of the cross-section for particle production in proton-nucleus collisions to next-to-leading order: the numerical results show an un- reasonably large dependence upon the choice of a prescription for the QCD running coupling, which spoils the predictive power of the calculation. Specifically, the results obtained with a prescription formulated in the transverse coordinate space differ by one to two orders of magnitude from those obtained with a prescription in momentum space. We show that this discrepancy is an artefact of the interplay between the asymptotic freedom of QCD and the Fourier transform from coordinate space to momentum space. When used in coordinate space, the running coupling can act as a fictitious potential which mimics hard scattering and thus introduces a spurious contribution to the cross-section. We identify a new coordinate-space prescription which avoids this problem and leads to results consistent with those obtained with the momentum-space prescription., Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, 2 appendices

This document collects the proceedings of the "Parton Radiation and Fragmentation from LHC to FCC-ee" workshop (http://indico.cern.ch/e/ee\_jets16) held at CERN in Nov. 2016. The writeup reviews the latest theoretical and experimental developments on parton radiation and parton-hadron fragmentation studies --including analyses of LEP, B-factories, and LHC data-- with a focus on the future perspectives reacheable in $e^+e^-$ measurements at the Future Circular Collider (FCC-ee), with multi-ab$^{-1}$ integrated luminosities yielding 10$^{12}$ and 10$^{8}$ jets from Z and W bosons decays as well as 10$^5$ gluon jets from Higgs boson decays. The main topics discussed are: (i) parton radiation and parton-to-hadron fragmentation functions (splitting functions at NNLO, small-$z$ NNLL resummations, global FF fits including Monte Carlo (MC) and neural-network analyses of the latest Belle/BaBar high-precision data, parton shower MC generators), (ii) jet properties (quark-gluon discrimination, $e^+e^-$ event shapes and multi-jet rates at NNLO+N$^{n}$LL, jet broadening and angularities, jet substructure at small-radius, jet charge determination, $e^+e^-$ jet reconstruction algorithms), (iii) heavy-quark jets (dead cone effect, charm-bottom separation, gluon-to-$b\bar{b}$ splitting), and (iv) non-perturbative QCD phenomena (colour reconnection, baryon and strangeness production, Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac final-state correlations, colour string dynamics: spin effects, helix hadronization)., Comment: 181 pages, 120 figures. Proceedings "Parton Radiation and Fragmentation from LHC to FCC-ee" Workshop (CERN, Nov. 2016), David d'Enterria, Peter Z. Skands (eds.)

This Report summarizes the proceedings of the 2015 Les Houches workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Session 1 dealt with (I) new developments relevant for high precision Standard Model calculations, (II) the new PDF4LHC parton distributions, (III) issues in the theoretical description of the production of Standard Model Higgs bosons and how to relate experimental measurements, (IV) a host of phenomenological studies essential for comparing LHC data from Run I with theoretical predictions and projections for future measurements in Run II, and (V) new developments in Monte Carlo event generators., Comment: Proceedings of the Standard Model Working Group of the 2015 Les Houches Workshop, Physics at TeV Colliders, Les Houches 1-19 June 2015. 227 pages

The high-energy evolution in perturbative QCD suffers from a severe lack-of-convergence problem, due to higher order corrections enhanced by double and single transverse logarithms. We resum double logarithms to all orders within the non-linear Balitsky-Kovchegov equation, by taking into account successive soft gluon emissions strongly ordered in lifetime. We further resum single logarithms generated by the first non-singular part of the splitting functions and by the one-loop running of the coupling. The resummed BK equation admits stable solutions, which are used to successfully fit the HERA data at small $x$ for physically acceptable initial conditions and reasonable values of the fit parameters., Comment: 4 pages, based on a talk presented at Quark Matter 2015, 27 Sep-3 Oct 2015, Kobe, Japan

Linear and non-linear QCD evolutions at high energy suffer from severe issues related to convergence, due to higher order corrections enhanced by large double and single transverse logarithms. We resum double logarithms to all orders by taking into account successive soft gluon emissions strongly ordered in lifetime. We further resum single logarithms generated by the first non-singular part of the splitting functions and by the one-loop running of the coupling. The resulting collinearly improved BK equation admits stable solutions, which are used to successfully fit the HERA data at small-x for physically acceptable initial conditions and reasonable values of the fit parameters., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, based on talk given at Hard Probes 2015, 29 June - 3 July 2015, Montreal, Canada

Perturbative corrections beyond leading-log accuracy to BFKL and BK equations, describing the rapidity evolution of QCD scattering amplitudes at high energy, exhibit strong convergence problems due to radiative corrections enhanced by large single and double transverse logs. We identify explicitly the physical origin of double transverse logs and resum them directly in coordinate space as appropriate for BK equation, in terms of an improved local-in-rapidity evolution kernel. Numerical results show the crucial role of double-logarithmic resummation for BK evolution, which is stabilized and slowed down by roughly a factor of two., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; Proceedings of the XXIII International Workshop on Deep-Inelastic Scattering (27 April-May 1 2015, Dallas (USA))

In a previous publication, we have established a collinearly-improved version of the Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) equation, which resums to all orders the radiative corrections enhanced by large double transverse logarithms. Here, we study the relevance of this equation as a tool for phenomenology, by confronting it to the HERA data. To that aim, we first improve the perturbative accuracy of our resummation, by including two classes of single-logarithmic corrections: those generated by the first non-singular terms in the DGLAP splitting functions and those expressing the one-loop running of the QCD coupling. The equation thus obtained includes all the next-to-leading order corrections to the BK equation which are enhanced by (single or double) collinear logarithms. We then use numerical solutions to this equation to fit the HERA data for the electron-proton reduced cross-section at small Bjorken x. We obtain good quality fits for physically acceptable initial conditions. Our best fit, which shows a good stability up to virtualities as large as Q^2=400 GeV^2 for the exchanged photon, uses as an initial condition the running-coupling version of the McLerran-Venugopalan model, with the QCD coupling running according to the smallest dipole prescription., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures; minor corrections to fit results and few comments added

The higher-order perturbative corrections, beyond leading logarithmic accuracy, to the BFKL evolution in QCD at high energy are well known to suffer from a severe lack-of-convergence problem, due to radiative corrections enhanced by double collinear logarithms. Via an explicit calculation of Feynman graphs in light cone (time-ordered) perturbation theory, we show that the corrections enhanced by double logarithms (either energy-collinear, or double collinear) are associated with soft gluon emissions which are strictly ordered in lifetime. These corrections can be resummed to all orders by solving an evolution equation which is non-local in rapidity. This equation can be equivalently rewritten in local form, but with modified kernel and initial conditions, which resum double collinear logs to all orders. We extend this resummation to the next-to-leading order BFKL and BK equations. The first numerical studies of the collinearly-improved BK equation demonstrate the essential role of the resummation in both stabilizing and slowing down the evolution., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures

This Report summarizes the proceedings of the 2013 Les Houches workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Session 1 dealt primarily with (1) the techniques for calculating standard model multi-leg NLO and NNLO QCD and NLO EW cross sections and (2) the comparison of those cross sections with LHC data from Run 1, and projections for future measurements in Run 2., Comment: Proceedings of the Standard Model Working Group of the 2013 Les Houches Workshop, Physics at TeV Colliders, Les houches 3-21 June 2013. 200 pages

This report of the BOOST2012 workshop presents the results of four working groups that studied key aspects of jet substructure. We discuss the potential of the description of jet substructure in first-principle QCD calculations and study the accuracy of state-of-the-art Monte Carlo tools. Experimental limitations of the ability to resolve substructure are evaluated, with a focus on the impact of additional proton proton collisions on jet substructure performance in future LHC operating scenarios. A final section summarizes the lessons learnt during the deployment of substructure analyses in searches for new physics in the production of boosted top quarks., Comment: Report of BOOST2012, held at IFIC Valencia, 23$^{rd}$-27$^{th}$ of July 2012

We present a new QCD description of the ATLAS jet veto measurement, using the Banfi-Marchesini-Smye equation to constrain the inter-jet QCD radiation. This equation resums emissions of soft gluons at large angles, at leading-logarithmic accuracy, and accounts for both the so-called Sudakov and non-global logarithms. We show that this approach is able to reproduce, with no fitting parameters, the fraction of high-pT forward/backward di-jet events which do not contain additional hard emissions in the inter-jet rapidity range. We also compute the gap fraction in fixed-order perturbation theory to O(alpha_s^2) and show that the perturbative series is unstable at large rapidity intervals., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

In processes involving small-x partons, like in deep inelastic scattering and in hadronic collisions at high energy, the final state can be expressed in terms of correlators of Wilson lines. We study such high-point correlators evolving according to the JIMWLK equation and we confirm the results of previous numerical and analytic work, by using an independent method, that the solution to the JIMWLK equation can be very well approximated by an appropriate Gaussian wavefunction. We explore both fixed and running coupling evolution, where in the latter the scale is set according to various prescriptions. As a byproduct, we also numerically confirm to high accuracy the validity of the law governing the behavior of the S-matrix close to the unitarity limit, the Levin-Tuchin formula. We furthermore outline how to calculate correlators with open color indices., Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures. v2: minor corrections, one equation added, updated to match published version

The 2011 Les Houches workshop was the first to confront LHC data. In the two years since the previous workshop there have been significant advances in both soft and hard QCD, particularly in the areas of multi-leg NLO calculations, the inclusion of those NLO calculations into parton shower Monte Carlos, and the tuning of the non-perturbative parameters of those Monte Carlos. These proceedings describe the theoretical advances that have taken place, the impact of the early LHC data, and the areas for future development., Comment: 220 pages

This report is based on a ten-week program on "Gluons and the quark sea at high-energies", which took place at the Institute for Nuclear Theory in Seattle in Fall 2010. The principal aim of the program was to develop and sharpen the science case for an Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a facility that will be able to collide electrons and positrons with polarized protons and with light to heavy nuclei at high energies, offering unprecedented possibilities for in-depth studies of quantum chromodynamics. This report is organized around four major themes: i) the spin and flavor structure of the proton, ii) three-dimensional structure of nucleons and nuclei in momentum and configuration space, iii) QCD matter in nuclei, and iv) Electroweak physics and the search for physics beyond the Standard Model. Beginning with an executive summary, the report contains tables of key measurements, chapter overviews for each of the major scientific themes, and detailed individual contributions on various aspects of the scientific opportunities presented by an EIC., Comment: 547 pages, A report on the joint BNL/INT/Jlab program on the science case for an Electron-Ion Collider, September 13 to November 19, 2010, Institute for Nuclear Theory, Seattle; v2 with minor changes, matches printed version

2nd workshop on the implications of HERA for LHC physics. Working groups: Parton Density Functions Multi-jet final states and energy flows Heavy quarks (charm and beauty) Diffraction Cosmic Rays Monte Carlos and Tools, Comment: 2nd workshop on the implications of HERA for LHC physics 2006 - 2008, Hamburg - Geneva. H. Jung and A. De Roeck Editors

It is usually assumed that the high-energy evolution of partons in QCD remains local in coordinate space. In particular, fixed impact-parameter scattering is thought to be in the universality class of one-dimensional reaction-diffusion processes as if the evolutions at different points in the transverse plane became uncorrelated through rapidity evolution. We check this assumption by numerically comparing a toy model with QCD-like impact-parameter dependence to its exact counterpart with uniform evolution in impact-parameter space. We find quantitative differences, but which seem to amount to a mere rescaling of the strong coupling constant. Since the rescaling factor does not show any strong alpha_s-dependence, we conclude that locality is well verified, up to subleading terms at small alpha_s., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures; corrected typos

This report summarizes the activity on comparisons of existings tools for the standard model and on issues in jet physics by the SMHC working group during and subsequent to the Workshop "Physics at TeV Colliders", Les Houches, France, 11-29 June, 2007., Comment: 94 pages, LaTeX, many figures. Summary report of the tools and jets parts of the SMHC working group of the Les Houches 2007 workshop "Physics at TeV Colliders", Les Houches, France, 11-29 June, 2007

Within the framework of a (1+1)-dimensional model which mimics evolution and scattering in QCD at high energy, we study the influence of the running of the coupling on the high-energy dynamics with Pomeron loops. We find that the particle number fluctuations are strongly suppressed by the running of the coupling, by at least one order of magnitude as compared to the case of a fixed coupling, for all the rapidities that we have investigated, up to Y=200. This reflects the slowing down of the evolution by running coupling effects, in particular, the large rapidity evolution which is required for the formation of the saturation front via diffusion. We conclude that, for all energies of interest, processes like deep inelastic scattering or forward particle production can be reliably studied within the framework of a mean-field approximation (like the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation) which includes running coupling effects., Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures

The measurement of the proton structure function at HERA is often seen as a hint for the observation of saturation in high-energy QCD e.g. through the observation of geometric scaling. Accordingly, the dipole picture provides a powerful framework in which the QCD-based saturation models can be confronted to the data. In this paper, we give a parametrisation of proton structure function which is directly constrained by the dynamics of QCD in its high-energy limit and fully includes the heavy quark effects. We obtain a good agreement with the available data. Furthermore, to the contrary of various models in the literature, we do not observe a significant decrease of the saturation momentum due to the heavy quark inclusion., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

Following recent predictions that the geometric scaling properties of deep inelastic scattering data in inclusive gamma*-p collisions are expected also in exclusive diffractive processes, we investigate the diffractive production of vector mesons. Using analytic results in the framework of the BK equation at non-zero momentum transfer, we extend to the non-forward amplitude a QCD-inspired forward saturation model including charm, following the theoretical predictions for the momentum transfer dependence of the saturation scale. We obtain a good fit to the available HERA data and make predictions for deeply virtual Compton scattering measurements., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, full analysis including the charm contribution and J/PSI production. Conclusions confirmed

We reproduce the DIS measurements of the proton structure function at high energy from the dipole model in momentum space. To model the dipole-proton forward scattering amplitude, we use the knowledge of asymptotic solutions of the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation, describing high-energy QCD in the presence of saturation effects. We compare our results with the previous analysis in coordinate space and discuss possible extensions of our approach., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

We propose a stochastic particle model in (1+1)-dimensions, with one dimension corresponding to rapidity and the other one to the transverse size of a dipole in QCD, which mimics high-energy evolution and scattering in QCD in the presence of both saturation and particle-number fluctuations, and hence of Pomeron loops. The model evolves via non-linear particle splitting, with a non-local splitting rate which is constrained by boost-invariance and multiple scattering. The splitting rate saturates at high density, so like the gluon emission rate in the JIMWLK evolution. In the mean field approximation obtained by ignoring fluctuations, the model exhibits the hallmarks of the BK equation, namely a BFKL-like evolution at low density, the formation of a traveling wave, and geometric scaling. In the full evolution including fluctuations, the geometric scaling is washed out at high energy and replaced by diffusive scaling. It is likely that the model belongs to the universality class of the reaction-diffusion process. The analysis of the model sheds new light on the Pomeron loops equations in QCD and their possible improvements., Comment: 35 pages, 4 figures, one appendix

Using all available data on the deep-inelastic cross-sections at HERA at x<0.01, we look for geometric scaling of the form \sigma^{\gamma^*p}(\tau) where the scaling variable \tau behaves alternatively like \log(Q^2)-\lambda Y, as in the original definition, or \log(Q^2)-\lambda \sqrt{Y}, which is suggested by the asymptotic properties of the Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) equation with running QCD coupling constant. A ``Quality Factor'' (QF) is defined, quantifying the phenomenological validity of the scaling and the uncertainty on the intercept \lambda. Both choices have a good QF, showing that the second choice is as valid as the first one, predicted for fixed coupling constant. A comparison between the QCD asymptotic predictions and data is made and the QF analysis shows that the agreement can be reached, provided going beyond leading logarithmic accuracy for the BK equation., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

It was recently noticed that high-energy scattering processes in QCD have a stochastic nature. An event-by-event scattering amplitude is characterised by a saturation scale which is a random variable. The statistical ensemble of saturation scales formed with all the events is distributed according to a probability law whose cumulants have been recently computed. In this work, we obtain the probability distribution from the cumulants. We prove that it can be considered as Gaussian over a large domain that we specify and our results are confirmed by numerical simulations., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, misprints corrected, version to appear in PLB

In these proceedings, we shall first recall the evolution equations arising when increasing the rapidity $Y=\log(s)$ within the perturbative QCD regime. We shall then summarise the main properties on their asymptotic solutions and discuss the physical picture emerging from our analysis., Comment: 4 pages, talk presented at the DIS2006 meeting, April 19-24, Tsukuba, Japan

In these proceedings, I shall review the basic concepts of perturbative QCD in its high-energy limit, emphasising the approach to the unitarity limit, usually referred to as {\em saturation}. I shall explain the basic framework showing the need for saturation, first, from a simple picture of the high-energy behaviour, then, giving a short derivation of the equation driving this evolution. In the second part, I shall exhibit an analogy with statistical physics and show how this allows to derive {\em geometric scaling} in QCD with saturation. I shall finally consider the effects of gluon-number fluctuations on this picture., Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, talk given at the XXVI Brazilian National Meeting on Particles and Fields, Sao Lourenco, Brazil, October 2005

We discuss new physical phenomena expected in particle production in hadron-hadron collisions at high energy, as a consequence of Pomeron loop effects in the evolution equations for the Color Glass Condensate. We focus on gluon production in asymmetric, `dilute-dense', collisions : a dilute projectile scatters off a dense hadronic target, whose gluon distribution is highly evolved. This situation is representative for particle production in proton-proton collisions at forward rapidities (say, at LHC) and admits a dipole factorization similar to that of deep inelastic scattering (DIS). We show that at sufficiently large forward rapidities, where the Pomeron loop effects become important in the evolution of the target wavefunction, gluon production is dominated by `black spots' (saturated gluon configurations) up to very large values of the transverse momentum, well above the average saturation momentum in the target. In this regime, the produced gluon spectrum exhibits diffusive scaling, so like DIS at sufficiently high energy., Comment: 29 pages, 7 figures

Within the limits of the large-N_c approximation (with N_c the number of colors), we establish the high-energy behaviour of the diffractive and inclusive cross-sections for deep inelastic scattering at fixed impact parameter. We demonstrate that for sufficiently high energies and up to very large values of Q^2, well above the proton average saturation momentum , the cross-sections are dominated by dense fluctuations in the target wavefunction, that is, by the relatively rare gluon configurations which are at saturation on the resolution scale Q^2 of the virtual photon. This has important physical consequences, like the emergence of a new, diffusive, scaling, which replaces the `geometric scaling' property characteristic of the mean field approximation. To establish this, we shall rely on a dipole version of the Good-Walker formula for diffraction (that we shall derive here in the context of DIS), together with the high-energy estimates for the dipole scattering amplitudes which follow from the recently established evolution equations with Pomeron loops and include the relevant fluctuations. We also find that, as a consequence of fluctuations, the diffractive cross-section at high energy is dominated by the elastic scattering of the quark-antiquark component of the virtual photon, up to relatively large virtualities Q^2 >> ., Comment: 69 pages, 20 figures

We investigate the behaviour of the QCD evolution towards high-energy, in the diffusive approximation, in the limit where the fluctuation contribution is large. Our solution for the equivalent stochastic Fisher equation predicts the amplitude as well as the whole set of correlators in the strong noise limit. The speed of the front and the diffusion coefficient are obtained. We analyse the consequences on high-energy evolution in QCD., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, more detailed discussions added, version to appear in Phys. Rev. D

We study some structural aspects of the evolution equations with Pomeron loops recently derived in QCD at high energy and for a large number of colors, with the purpose of clarifying their probabilistic interpretation. We show that, in spite of their appealing dipolar structure and of the self-duality of the underlying Hamiltonian, these equations cannot be given a meaningful interpretation in terms of a system of dipoles which evolves through dissociation (one dipole splitting into two) and recombination (two dipoles merging into one). The problem comes from the saturation effects, which cannot be described as dipole recombination, not even effectively. We establish this by showing that a (probabilistically meaningful) dipolar evolution in either the target or the projectile wavefunction cannot reproduce the actual evolution equations in QCD., Comment: 31 pages, 2 figures

We study the asymptotic solutions of a version of the Balitsky-Kovchegov evolution with discrete steps in rapidity. We derive a closed iterative equation in momentum space. We show that it possesses traveling-wave solutions and extract their properties. We find no evidence for chaotic behaviour due to discretization., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, minor corrections, version appeared in Phys. Lett. B

The recent high-energy QCD equations including the effects of fluctuations are solved numerically. We discuss their asymptotic properties and compare them with the corresponding behaviour without fluctuations as well as with the statistical-physics model obtained in the saddle point approximation. The potential consequences on phenomenology, particularly on geometric scaling violations, are drawn., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Talk presented at the XIth International Conference on Elastic and Diffractive Scattering (EDS05), Blois, France, May 15-20 2005

Using consistent truncations of the BFKL kernel, we derive analytical traveling-wave solutions of the Balitsky-Kovchegov saturation equation for both fixed and running coupling. A universal parametrization of the ``interior'' of the wave front is obtained and compares well with numerical simulations of the original Balitsky-Kovchegov equation, even at non-asymptotic energies. Using this universal parametrization, we find evidence for a traveling-wave pattern of the dipole amplitude determined from the gluon distribution extracted from deep inelastic scattering data., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, minor revision, version to appear in PLB

Recently, Iancu and Triantafyllopoulos have proposed a hierarchy of evolution equations in QCD at high energy which generalises previous approaches by including the effects of gluon number fluctuations and thus the pomeron loops. In this paper, we present the first numerical simulations of the Langevin equation which reproduces that hierarchy. This equation is formally the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation supplemented with a noise term accounting for the relevant fluctuations. In agreement with theoretical predictions, we find that the effects of the fluctuations is to reduce the saturation exponent and to induce geometric scaling violations at high energy., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, minor corrections, version appeared in Phys. Rev. D

We show how one can obtain geometric scaling properties from the Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) equation. We start by explaining how, this property arises for the b-independent BK equation. We show that it is possible to extend this model to the full BK equation including momentum transfer. The saturation scale behaves like max(q,Q_T) where q is the momentum transfer and Q_T a typical scale of the target., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Talk given by G. Soyez at the "Rencontres de Moriond", 12-19 March 2005, La Thuile, Italy