Angular Distributions of Higher Order Splitting Functions

TL;DR

This paper investigates the angular distributions of higher-order splitting functions in QCD, revealing they are neither ordered nor anti-ordered, and finds medium-induced splittings are broader than in vacuum.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed analysis of angular distributions for three-parton splitting functions in both vacuum and dense QCD matter.

Findings

Medium-induced splitting functions have broader angular distributions.

Higher-order splitting functions are neither ordered nor anti-ordered.

Results extend understanding of parton splitting behavior in different environments.

Abstract

We study the angular distributions of the splitting functions for processes for which a parton splits into three partons. Unlike the case of coherent branching, we find that both in vacuum and in the presence of the dense QCD matter, such collinear splitting functions are neither ordered, nor anti-ordered. In the medium-induced splitting functions the angular distributions are broader compared to the similar vacuum distribution, a feature previously noticed from the lowest order medium-induced splitting functions.