Radiative processes and jet modification at the EIC

TL;DR

This paper derives all nuclear branching processes affecting jet and hadron production at the EIC, enabling detailed studies of hadronization and energy loss in nuclear matter.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive derivation of all relevant branching processes in nuclei for jet and hadron modification, applicable to any order in opacity.

Findings

Derived all branching processes affecting semi-inclusive hadron production and jets in nuclei.

Applied the framework to study light hadron and heavy flavor fragmentation modifications.

Discussed implications for understanding hadronization and parton energy loss in large nuclei.

Abstract

A U.S.-based Electron-Ion Collider will provide the ultimate capability to determine both the structure and properties of nucleons and nuclei, as well as how matter and energy can be transported through a strongly interacting quantum mechanical environment. The production and propagation of long-lived heavy subatomic particles is a unique and critical part of this planned decade-long research program. In these proceedings we report the derivation of all branching processes in nuclei that lead to a modification of semi-inclusive hadron production, jet cross sections, and jet substructure when compared to the vacuum. This work allows for their evaluation to any desired order in opacity. As an example, we show an application to the modification of light hadron and open heavy flavor fragmentation functions at the EIC. We discuss how this observable can shed light on the physics of hadronization and parton energy loss in large nuclei.