In-medium QCD and Cherenkov gluons

TL;DR

This paper develops equations for in-medium QCD, showing how Cherenkov gluons are emitted when a color charge moves faster than the medium's phase velocity, with implications for high-energy collisions.

Contribution

It introduces a classical in-medium gluodynamics framework and analyzes Cherenkov gluon emission, extending electrodynamics concepts to QCD in nuclear media.

Findings

Cherenkov gluon emission occurs for nuclear permittivity > 1

Classical solutions describe gluon radiation from fast-moving color charges

Effects of moving partons at LHC energies are analyzed

Abstract

The equations of in-medium gluodynamics are proposed. Their classical lowest order solution is explicitly shown for a color charge moving with constant speed. For nuclear permittivity larger than 1 it describes emission of Cherenkov gluons resembling results of classical electrodynamics. The choice of nuclear permittivity and Lorentz-invariance of the problem are discussed. Effects induced by the transversely and longitudinally moving (relative to the collision axis) partons at LHC energies are described.