Linearly polarized gluons and axial charge fluctuations in the Glasma

TL;DR

This paper investigates the correlation functions of energy density and axial charge sources in the Glasma, revealing how gluon polarization affects axial charge fluctuations in high-energy nuclear collisions.

Contribution

It introduces a calculation of correlation functions in the Glasma and links gluon polarization to axial charge production, providing new insights into early-time QCD dynamics.

Findings

Correlation functions depend on gluon polarization states.

Axial charge fluctuations relate to energy density distributions.

Modeling of axial charge distributions based on energy density.

Abstract

We calculate of the one- and two-point correlation functions of the energy density and the divergence of the Chern-Simons current in the nonequilibrium Glasma state formed in a high-energy nuclear collision. We show that the latter depends on the difference of the total and linearly polarized gluon transverse momentum distributions. Since the divergence of the Chern-Simons current provides the source of axial charge, we infer information about the statistical properties of axial charge production at early times. We further develop a simple phenomenological model to characterize axial charge distributions in terms of distributions of the energy density.