Factorization and virtuality evolution of jet functions in heavy-ion collisions
Abstract
We develop a new framework to perform a virtuality-resolved description of jet propagation in heavy-ion collisions using perturbative techniques. The role of virtuality is rigorously identified by first deriving a factorized jet cross section that defines an in-medium jet function. This new definition allows to extend the usual BDMPS-Z formalism to include the virtuality-differential transverse momentum broadening distribution and medium-induced soft gluon spectrum. We study both the cases of a medium which is created with some delay time τ0 after the hard collision as well as the case in which τ0→ 0. Integration over the complete virtuality range recovers the standard BDMPS-Z results, while finite virtuality reveals the interplay between vacuum-like evolution and medium-induced dynamics. We identify the ratio between the medium formation time and the jet formation time as the variable controlling which initial virtualities contribute appreciably to the jet function.
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BibTeX
@misc{lamas2026factorization,
title = {{Factorization and virtuality evolution of jet functions in heavy-ion collisions}},
author = {Carlos Lamas and Carlos A. Salgado and Bin Wu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.35653},
eprint = {2609.35653},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.35653},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Factorization and virtuality evolution of jet functions in heavy-ion collisions
AU - Carlos Lamas
AU - Carlos A. Salgado
AU - Bin Wu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/28
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.35653
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.35653
AB - We develop a new framework to perform a virtuality-resolved description of jet propagation in heavy-ion collisions using perturbative techniques. The role of virtuality is rigorously identified by first deriving a factorized jet cross section that defines an in-medium jet function. This new definition allows to extend the usual BDMPS-Z formalism to include the virtuality-differential transverse momentum broadening distribution and medium-induced soft gluon spectrum. We study both the cases of a medium which is created with some delay time τ_0 after the hard collision as well as the case in which τ_0→ 0. Integration over the complete virtuality range recovers the standard BDMPS-Z results, while finite virtuality reveals the interplay between vacuum-like evolution and medium-induced dynamics. We identify the ratio between the medium formation time and the jet formation time as the variable controlling which initial virtualities contribute appreciably to the jet function.
ER -