Nuclear parton density functions from jet production in DIS at an EIC

Abstract

We investigate the potential of inclusive-jet production in deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) at a future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) to improve our current knowledge of nuclear parton density functions (PDFs). We demonstrate that the kinematic reach is extended similarly to inclusive DIS, but that the uncertainty of the nuclear PDFs, in particular of the gluon density at low Bjorken-x, is considerably reduced, by up to an order of magnitude compared to the present situation. Using an approximate next-to-next-to-leading order (aNNLO) calculation implemented in the program JetViP, we also make predictions for three different EIC designs and for four different light and heavy nuclei.

Nuclear parton density functions from dijet photoproduction at the EIC

“…At the largestp T , between 10 3 and 10 events would be collected annually with luminosities of 100 or 10 fb −1 . Compared to inclusive jet production in DIS, where p 2 T and Q 2 values of up to 10 3 GeV 2 are kinematically accessible [21], the scales probed in dijet photoproduction are therefore more limited.…”

“…In conclusion, after an investigation of inclusive jet production in DIS [21], we have studied in this paper the potential of dijet photoproduction at the EIC to better constrain nuclear PDFs in the near future. We based our analysis on our theoretical framework of full NLO [4] and approximate NNLO QCD calculations [27], where we had found little impact of the aNNLO contributions on the central K-factors, but a sizable reduction of the scale uncertainty.…”

“…We assume that the jets are reconstructed with an anti-k T algorithm, a distance parameter R ¼ 1 in the η − ϕ plane, and a massless p T recombination scheme [35]. Similar to our study of inclusive jet production in DIS [21], we assume that jets can be measured down to transverse momenta of p T ≥ 5ð4.5Þ GeV, where the cuts on the leading (subleading) jet must be sufficiently different to avoid sensitivity to soft gluon radiation [36]. We then set all scales to the average transverse momentum μ R;γ;A ¼p T ¼ ðp T;1 þ p T;2 Þ=2.…”

Nuclear structure functions at a future electron-ion collider

“…While the jet production at the LHC is known to constrain high-x gluons [53], it is unlikely that a precision like the one obtained here could be reached. Potential constraints on nPDFs through jet production at an EIC have been recently investigated [54]. However, at large-x, the jets in DIS originate predominantly from valence quarks.…”

Prompt photon production and photon-jet correlations at the LHC

“…They allow, e.g., to determine the strong coupling constant (α s ) [1] or the partonic structure of protons, photons [2] and nuclei [3][4][5], and they can serve as a thermometer of the hot Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) created in heavy-ion collisions [6,7]. If produced in association with a hadronic jet, they allow to calibrate the transverse momentum of the latter at its creation and to deduce its subsequent hadronic energy loss or azimuthal decorrelation in the medium [8].…”