QCD traveling waves phenomenology revisited

TL;DR

This paper revisits and updates a saturation model based on traveling wave solutions of the BK equation, demonstrating its accuracy against recent HERA data and making predictions for future LHeC measurements.

Contribution

The paper refines a momentum-space saturation model incorporating heavy quarks, achieving high accuracy in describing DIS data and providing future predictions.

Findings

Accurately describes HERA reduced cross sections and structure functions.

Provides good fits for heavy quark structure functions at small-x.

Makes predictions for upcoming LHeC measurements.

Abstract

In this paper we review and update the Amaral-Gay Ducati-Betemps-Soyez saturation model, by testing it against the recent H1-ZEUS combined data on deep inelastic scattering, including heavy quarks in the dipole amplitude. We obtain that this model, which is based on traveling wave solutions of the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation and built in the momentum space framework, yields very accurate descriptions of the reduced cross section, $\sigma_{r}(x,y,Q^{2})$, as well as DIS structure functions such as $F_{2}(x,Q^{2})$ and $F_{L}(x,Q^{2})$, all measured at HERA. Additionally, it provides good descriptions of heavy quark structure functions, $F_{2}^{cc}$ and $F_{2}^{bb}$ at small-$x$ and $Q^{2}\lesssim 60$ GeV$^{2}$. We also use the improved model to make predictions for structure functions to be measured in the near future at LHeC.