Theoretical summary talk of QCD 2002

This is a summary of the talks on QCD, not including QCD at finite temperature or density (which are discussed elsewhere) presented at the QCD 2002 meeting held at IIT, Kanpur. I have attempted to give only an overview of the talks since the details may be found in the individual contributions.     

On de-globalization in quantum chromodynamics

The recent discovery and resummation of a class of single logarithmic effects (non-global logs), has a significant impact on several QCD observables ranging from the classic Sterman-Weinberg jet definition to currently studied event shapes and rapidity gap observables. The discovery of the above effects overturns, for example, the common wisdom that hadronic energy flow in limited inter-jet regions is dictatedprimarily by the colour flow of the underlying hard partonic subprocess. We discuss some features of non-global logs and the rapid progress being made in estimating and controlling such corrections.     

Working group report: Quantum chromodynamics

This is the report of the QCD working sub-group at WHEPP-8 which was part of the QCD and QGP working group. Discussion and work on some aspects of resummation and parton distribution are reported.     

Working group report: Quantum chromodynamics

This is the report of the subgroup QCD of Working Group-4 at WHEPP-9. We present the activities that had taken place in the subgroup and report some of the partial results arrived at following the discussion at the working group meetings.     

Generation of gluons from quark confinement

We study a model of quark confinement defined by the vanishing of colour currents. The model is shown to be equivalent to quantum chromodynamics and this equivalence is interpreted as due to the compositeness of the colour gluons. The Green’s functions of the theory are found to contain nontrivial structure only for colour singlet composites which can be identified with hadrons.     

A survey of lattice results on finite temperature quantum chromodynamics

The talk summarizes some new results of lattice investigations of QCD at finite temperature. The topics discussed cover the flavor dependence of the critical temperature and the equation-of-state as well as hadronic correlation functions.     

Gauge invariance and renormalization schemes in quantum chromodynamics

A general analysis of the Slavnov-Taylor identity connecting the triple gluon and ghost-ghost-gluon vertices and its consequences for two momentum subtraction (symmetric and asymmetric) renormalization schemes are given. It is shown that in the asymmetric scheme proposed in this paper the relation follows directly from the identity for a simple and natural definition of the renormalization constants. Explicit one-loop expressions for the renormalization constants in an arbitrary covariant gauge, including quark masses are given in support of the general analysis.     

The analysis of space–time structure in QCD vacuum II: Dynamics of polarization and absolute X-distribution

We propose a framework for quantitative evaluation of dynamical tendency for polarization in an arbitrary random variable that can be decomposed into a pair of orthogonal subspaces. The method uses measures based on comparisons of given dynamics to its counterpart with statistically independent components. The formalism of previously considered X-distributions is used to express the aforementioned comparisons, in effect putting the former approach on solid footing. Our analysis leads to the definition of a suitable correlation coefficient with clear statistical meaning. We apply the method to the dynamics induced by pure-glue lattice QCD in local left–right components of overlap Dirac eigenmodes. It is found that, in finite physical volume, there exists a non-zero physical scale in the spectrum of eigenvalues such that eigenmodes at smaller (fixed) eigenvalues exhibit convex X-distribution (positive correlation), while at larger eigenvalues the distribution is concave (negative correlation). This chiral polarization scale thus separates a regime where dynamics enhances chirality relative to statistical independence from a regime where it suppresses it, and gives an objective definition to the notion of “low” and “high” Dirac eigenmode. We propose to investigate whether the polarization scale remains non-zero in the infinite volume limit, in which case it would represent a new kind of low energy scale in QCD.     

Large-scale calculations for hadron spectroscopy

Some recent Monte Carlo calculations for quantum chromodynamics, performed on Euclidean lattices of rather large extent, are reviewed. The purpose of the calculations is to provide accurate determinations of quantities, such as interquark potentials or mass eigenvalues, which are relevant for hadronic spectroscopy. Results obtained in quenched QCD on 16³×32 lattices are illustrated, and a discussion of computational resources and techniques required for the calculations is presented.     

Hadron masses and matrix elements from the QCD Schrödinger functional

We explain how masses and matrix elements can be computed in lattice QCD using Schrödinger functional boundary conditions. Numerical results in the quenched approximation demonstrate that good precision can be achieved. For a statistical sample of the same size, our hadron masses have a precision similar to what is achieved with standard methods, but for the computation of matrix elements such as the pseudoscalar decay constant the Schrödinger functional technique turns out to be much more efficient than the known alternatives.     

Superdense matter

We review recent work on the phase structure of QCD at very high baryon density. We introduce the phenomenon of color superconductivity and discuss the use of weak coupling methods. We study the phase structure as a function of the number of flavors and their masses. We also introduce effective theories that describe low energy excitations at high baryon density. Finally, we comment on the possibility of kaon condensation at very large baryon density.     

Partons and jets at the LHC

I review some issues related to short distance QCD and its relation to the experimental program of the large hadron collider (LHC) now under construction in Geneva.     

Evaluating results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider with perturbative QCD and hydrodynamics

We review the basic concepts of perturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and relativistic hydrodynamics, and their applications to hadron production in high energy nuclear collisions. We discuss results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in light of these theoretical approaches. Perturbative QCD and hydrodynamics together explain a large amount of experimental data gathered during the first decade of RHIC running, although some questions remain open. We focus primarily on practical aspects of the calculations, covering basic topics like perturbation theory, initial state nuclear effects, jet quenching models, ideal hydrodynamics, dissipative corrections, freeze-out and initial conditions. We conclude by comparing key results from RHIC to calculations.     

Finite fermion mass effects in pseudoscalar Higgs production via gluon–gluon fusion

We compute the leading logarithmic behaviour of the cross-section for the production of a pseudoscalar Higgs boson in gluon–gluon fusion to all-orders in perturbation theory, in the limit of large partonic centre of mass energy. We also calculate the Higgs rapidity distribution to the same accuracy. We include the contributions of top and bottom quarks, together with their interference. Our results are given in terms of single and double integrals, evaluated explicitly up to next-to next-to leading order (NNLO). We use our results to improve the known NNLO inclusive cross-section computed in the effective theory where the fermions in the loop are integrated out. The size of finite fermion mass effects on the inclusive cross-section is found to be small, reaching a few percent only for large values of the pseudoscalar mass.     

Geometrization of the Gauge Connection within a Kaluza–Klein Theory

We geometrize a generic (abelian and non-abelian) gauge coupling within the framework of a Kaluza–Klein theory, by choosing a suitable matter-field dependence on the extra coordinates. We first extend the Nöther theorem to a multidimensional spacetime, the Cartesian product of a 4-dimensional Minkowski space and a compact homogeneous manifold (whose isometries reflect the gauge symmetry). On such a “vacuum” configuration, the extra-dimensional components of the field momentum correspond to the gauge charges. Then we analyze the structure of a Dirac algebra for a spacetime with the Kaluza–Klein restrictions. By splitting the corresponding free-field Lagrangian, we show how the gauge coupling terms arise.     

The double copy: gravity from gluons

Three of the four fundamental forces in nature are described by so-called gauge theories, which include the effects of both relativity and quantum mechanics. Gravity, on the other hand, is described by General Relativity, and the lack of a well-behaved quantum theory – believed to be relevant at the centre of black holes, and at the Big Bang itself – remains a notorious unsolved problem. Recently a new correspondence, the double copy, has been discovered between scattering amplitudes (quantities related to the probability for particles to interact) in gravity, and their gauge theory counterparts. This has subsequently been extended to other quantities, providing gauge theory analogues of e.g. black holes. We here review current research on the double copy, and describe some possible applications.     

Small x resummation of rapidity distributions: The case of Higgs production

We provide a method for the all order computation of small x   contributions at the leading logarithmic level to cross-sections which are differential in rapidity. The method is based on a generalization to rapidity distributions of the high energy (or kT$k_T$) factorization theorem hitherto proven for inclusive cross-sections. We apply the method to Higgs production in gluon–gluon fusion, both with finite top mass and in the infinite mass limit: in both cases, we determine all-order resummed expressions, as well as explicit expressions for the leading small x terms up to NNLO. We use our result to construct an explicit approximate analytic expression of the finite-mass NLO rapidity distribution and an estimate of finite-mass corrections at NNLO.     

Theoretical expectations for σtot at the large hadron collider

In this note, we summarize and compare various model predictions forpp total cross-section σ _tot ^pp , giving an estimate of the range of predictions for the total cross-section, σ _tot ^pp expected at the LHC. We concentrate on the results for σ _tot ^pp obtained in a particular QCD based model of the energy dependence of the total cross-section, including the effect of soft gluon radiation. We obtain the range of predictions in this model by exploring the allowed range of model parameters. We further give a handy parametrisation of these results which incidentally spans the range of various other available predictions at the LHC as well     

High energy heavy ion collisions: Lessons from relativistic heavy ion collider

In this talk, I review the recent results from RHIC and discuss their significance.