Physics with Nuclei at an Electron Ion Collider

TL;DR

This paper discusses three feasible experiments at an Electron Ion Collider to probe QCD phenomena such as saturation, quark energy loss, and hadronization mechanisms using nuclear targets.

Contribution

It proposes specific experimental approaches at an EIC to measure saturation, validate quark energy loss independence, and analyze hadronization processes in nuclei.

Findings

Feasible measurement of the saturation scale via transverse momentum broadening.

Validation of the energy independence of quark energy loss.

Insights into hadronization mechanisms across different nuclear sizes.

Abstract

Lepto-nuclear colliders offer unique experimental opportunities to probe QCD in an extended medium. Of the many possibilities, three experiments are described here that are clearly feasible and of high scientific importance. First, a direct measurement of the saturation scale is possible using the broadening of the transverse momentum distribution of hadrons produced in semi-inclusive DIS. This connection to saturation physics will provide a quantitative measure of the degree to which this fundamental QCD phenomenon is occurring, and has important consequences in other high-energy scattering studies. Second, the measurement of quark energy loss is feasible, either as a direct measurement at a lower-energy EIC, or as an indirect measurement using hadron attenuation at higher energies. Such a measurement will offer the first experimental validation of the energy independence of this process, which is a consequence of the QCD analog of the LPM effect in QED. The third experiment is to determine the mechanisms of hadronization using the nucleus as a spatial analyzer, intercomparing hadron attenuation for nuclei of a range of sizes. The extended reach of the EIC in energy will allow probes of these mechanisms in the crucial high-z region for the heaviest nuclei, and will permit study of hadronization in heavy quark meson and baryon systems.