From jet quenching to wave turbulence

TL;DR

This paper explores how wave turbulence in gluon cascades caused by energetic partons in dense QCD media can explain energy transport phenomena like di-jet asymmetry observed in heavy-ion collisions.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of wave turbulence in medium-induced gluon cascades, contrasting it with vacuum cascades, and links it to experimental observations.

Findings

Medium-induced gluon branchings are quasi-democratic.

Wave turbulence efficiently transports energy at large angles.

Potential explanation for di-jet asymmetry in Pb-Pb collisions.

Abstract

We discuss average properties of the gluon cascade generated by an energetic parton propagating through a dense QCD medium. The cascade is mostly made with relatively soft gluons, whose production is not suppressed by the LPM effect. Unlike for usual QCD cascades in the vacuum, where the typical splittings are very asymmetric (soft and collinear), the medium-induced branchings are quasi-democratic and lead to wave turbulence. This results in a very efficient mechanism for the transport of energy at large angles with respect to the jet axis, which might explain the di-jet asymmetry observed in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.