Helicity-dependent extension of the McLerran-Venugopalan model

TL;DR

This paper extends the McLerran-Venugopalan model to include helicity effects, providing a new initial condition for helicity-dependent evolution equations and observables in high-energy QCD with polarized targets.

Contribution

It introduces a helicity-dependent extension of the MV model, enabling studies of polarized high-energy scattering within the CGC framework.

Findings

Provides a generalized initial condition for helicity evolution equations

Enables calculation of helicity-dependent observables in QCD

Facilitates analysis of polarized proton and nucleus collisions

Abstract

We construct a generalization of the McLerran-Venugopalan (MV) model including helicity effects for a longitudinally polarized target (a proton or a large nucleus). The extended MV model can serve as the initial condition for the helicity generalization of the JIMWLK evolution equation constructed in our previous paper, as well as for calculation of helicity-dependent observables in the quasi-classical approximation to QCD.