{
  "abstract": "We present first predictions from the saturation-physics-based framework IP-Glasma for the nuclear modification factor $R_{AB}$ as a function of centrality in $p$ + O, $p$ + Pb, O + O, and Pb + Pb collisions due only to initial-state effects. The same framework is responsible for both soft ($p_T \\lesssim 3 ~\\mathrm{GeV}$) and semi-hard ($5 ~\\mathrm{GeV} \\lesssim p_T \\lesssim 20 ~\\mathrm{GeV}$) particle production, enabling the study of initial-state correlations between bulk and intermediate-$p_T$ particle production from a first-principles framework. We show that, tuned only to HERA data, IP-Glasma accurately predicts the self-normalized multiplicity distributions in $p$ + O, $p$ + Pb, O + O, and Pb + Pb collisions; the minimum-bias nuclear modification factor in $p$ + O and $p$ + Pb collisions; the centrality-cut nuclear modification factor in $p$ + Pb collisions; and the anomalous suppression of $R_{AA}$ observed in very peripheral Pb + Pb collisions. We find that IP-Glasma predicts significantly less suppression than is measured in both $\\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.36 ~\\mathrm{TeV}$ O + O and $\\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 5.02 ~\\mathrm{TeV}$ Pb + Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, in qualitative agreement with the scenario in which $R_{AA} < 1$ is due to final-state energy loss. We show that the inelastic nucleon-nucleon cross section ($σ_{\\text{inel}}^{NN}$) produced by IP-Glasma is extremely sensitive to the area of the subnucleonic hotspots; the same values of the hotspot area that reproduce the measured $σ_{\\text{inel}}^{NN}$ also reproduce minimum-bias $R_{pA}$. Finally, we show that the hard-soft correlations in IP-Glasma arise from event-by-event fluctuations in the color fields, which simultaneously drive enhanced production of both soft and hard particles.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.29886",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Coleridge Faraday"
    },
    {
      "name": "W. A. Horowitz"
    },
    {
      "name": "Björn Schenke"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fv838e5xdqsp.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.29886",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "4fv838e5xdqsp",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.29886",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "nucl-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|High-Energy Particle Collisions Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214315665",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.29886",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-24",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fv838e5xdqsp.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:24:11Z",
      "native_id": "2609.29886",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.29886"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:nucl-th",
      "subfield": "nuclear"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Centrality-dependent nuclear modification from hard-soft correlations in the glasma",
  "title_text": "Centrality-dependent nuclear modification from hard-soft correlations in the glasma",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:24:11Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/4fv838e5xdqsp",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}