Contribution of the non-linear term in the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation to the nuclear structure functions

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the non-linear term in the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation influences nuclear structure functions, highlighting saturation effects relevant for future collider experiments.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of structure functions calculated with and without the non-linear term in the BK equation using new nuclear initial conditions.

Findings

Non-linear term significantly affects structure functions at low x

Saturation effects increase with decreasing x and higher scales

Results are relevant for future ep and eA collider experiments

Abstract

In this paper, we present nuclear structure functions calculated from the impact-parameter dependent solution of the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation with our recently proposed set of nuclear initial conditions. We calculate the results with and without the non-linear term in the BK equation in order to study the impact of saturation effects on the measurable structure functions and nuclear modification factor. The difference of these results rises with decreasing Bjorken $x$ and increasing scale. These predictions are of interest to the physics program at the future ep and eA colliders.