NSF-BSF: Correlations and Entanglement: From CGC Wave Function to Particle Production at High Energy

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The strong force governs the interactions between protons and ions at very high energies. Complete understanding of strong interactions is a long standing problem in theoretical high energy and nuclear physics. For more than a decade, it has been known that under certain conditions these interactions can lead to very intricate collective behavior, like for example formation of a Quark-Gluon plasma. One of the central parts of the experimental program at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the study of possible collective and correlated behavior in heavy ion collisions as well as proton-ion collisions at high energy. The latter are particularly interesting, since understanding collectivity may allow for progress in understanding the structure of the proton. As such, in this project the PI and his collaborators will study how collective behavior can originate in the properties of the wave function of the colliding objects. This project will provide excellent training of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.This project concerns the development of an approach based on the so-called Color Glass Condensate (CGC) - a modern approach to high energy interactions. The PI will study the possible connection between quasi collectivity and quantum properties of the hadronic wave function at high energy. The PI aims to improve the current knowledge of the CGC wave function at high energy. This involves resummation of large logarithmic corrections to current next-to-leading-order (NLO) calculations via a consistent use of the Born-Oppenheimer approach to a multiscale system, and extending the current calculations to denser projectiles via the WKB approximation. Furthermore, the PI will study the correlated behavior of particles produced from this state in a high energy collision, in particular effects of quantum entanglement of modes, as well as effects of quantum statistics and other properties of particle distributions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.