Baryon-number -flavor separation in the topological expansion of QCD

TL;DR

This paper models the separation of baryon number and flavor flows in high-energy QCD processes using a topological expansion and analog-gas model, aligning well with recent experimental data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of the analog-gas model to describe baryon junctions and their role in baryon stopping within the topological expansion framework of QCD.

Findings

Good agreement with STAR and ALICE data on baryon stopping

Identification of two degenerate junction-antijunction glueball trajectories

Enhanced model accuracy with string correlation effects

Abstract

Gauge invariance of QCD dictates the presence of string junctions in the wave functions of baryons. In high-energy inclusive processes, these baryon junctions have been predicted to induce the separation of the flows of baryon number and flavor. In this paper we describe this phenomenon using the analog-gas model of multiparticle production proposed long time ago by Feynman and Wilson and adapted here to accommodate the topological expansion in QCD. In this framework, duality arguments suggest the existence of two degenerate junction-antijunction glueball Regge trajectories of opposite $\cal{C}$-parity with intercept close to 1/2. The corresponding results for the energy and rapidity dependence of baryon stopping are in reasonably good agreement with recent experimental findings from STAR and ALICE experiments. We show that accounting for correlations between the fragmenting strings further improves agreement with the data, and outline additional experimental tests of our picture at the existing (RHIC, LHC, JLab) and future (EIC) facilities.