Energy loss and (de)coherence effects beyond eikonal approximation

The parton branching process is known to be modified in the presence of a medium. Colour decoherence processes are known to determine the process of energy loss when the density of the medium is large enough to break the correlations between partons emitted from the same parent. In order to improve existing calculations that consider eikonal trajectories for both the emitter and the hardest emitted parton, we provide in this work, the calculation of all finite energy corrections for the gluon radiation off a quark in a QCD medium that exist in the small angle approximation and for static scattering centres. Using the path integral formalism, all particles are allowed to undergo Brownian motion in the transverse plane and the offspring allowed to carry an arbitrary fraction of the initial energy. The result is a general expression that contains both coherence and decoherence regimes that are controlled by the density of the medium and by the amount of broadening that each parton acquires independently.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the Quark Matter 2014 conferenc

In-medium jet evolution: interplay between broadening and decoherence effects

The description of the modifications of the coherence pattern in a parton shower, in the presence of a QGP, has been actively addressed in recent studies. Among the several achievements, finite energy corrections, transverse momentum broadening due to medium interactions and interference effects between successive emissions have been extensively improved as they seem to be essential features for a correct description of the results obtained in heavy-ion collisions. In this work, based on the insights of our previous work [1], we explore the physical interplay between broadening and decoherence, by generalising previous studies of medium-modifications of the antenna spectrum [2, 3, 4] - so far restricted to the case where transverse motion is neglected. The result allow us to identify two quantities controlling the decoherence of a medium modified shower that can be used as building blocks for a successful future generation of jet quenching Monte Carlo simulators: a generalisation of the $\Delta_{med}$ parameter of the works of [2, 4] - that controls the interplay between the transverse scale of the hard probe and the transverse resolution of the medium - and of the $\Delta_{coh}$ in [1] - that dictates the interferences between two emitters as a function of the transverse momentum broadening acquired by multiple scatterings with the medium.Comment: Proceedings for Quark Matter 2015 (corrected version

Medium-induced gluon radiation and colour decoherence beyond the soft approximation

We derive the in-medium gluon radiation spectrum off a quark within the path integral formalism at finite energies, including all next-to-eikonal corrections in the propagators of quarks and gluons. Results are computed for finite formation times, including interference with vacuum amplitudes. By rewriting the medium averages in a convenient manner we present the spectrum in terms of dipole cross sections and a colour decoherence parameter with the same physical origin as that found in previous studies of the antenna radiation. This factorisation allows us to present a simple physical picture of the medium-induced radiation for any value of the formation time, that is of interest for a probabilistic implementation of the modified parton shower. Known results are recovered for the particular cases of soft radiation and eikonal quark and for the case of a very long medium, with length much larger than the average formation times for medium-induced radiation. Technical details of the computation of the relevant $n$-point functions in colour space and of the required path integrals in transverse space are provided. The final result completes the calculation of all finite energy corrections for the radiation off a quark in a QCD medium that exist in the small angle approximation and for a recoilless medium.Comment: v2: mistake in Dirac algebra corrected, corresponding conclusion changed accordingly, BDMPS limit added. Accepted by JHE

Medium-induced radiation with vacuum propagation in the pre-hydrodynamics phase

The recent discovery of the potential of jet quenching observables to constrain the initial stages after a heavy-ion collision makes imperative to have a better understanding of the process of medium-induced radiation before the formation of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and its impact on observables at high-$p_T$. In this work, we generalize the BDMPS-Z framework for medium-induced radiation to account for additional emissions occurring before the creation of the QGP. For simplicity, we assume that during the pre-hydrodynamics phase the hard parton propagates as in vacuum. This set-up, allows us to isolate the contribution from the additional initial radiation by comparing with the usual scenarios in which the emitter is created inside the medium but with different starting points. Using both a numerical implementation of the fully resummed emission spectrum and the usual analytical approximations, we find that replacing an initial slab of the medium by vacuum yields to a significant reduction of the emission spectrum for low radiated gluon energies, while the high-energy tails remain largely unmodified. Finally, we assess the effect of replacing the initial medium by vacuum propagation on the single-inclusive particle suppression $R_{AA}$ and high-$p_T$ azimuthal asymmetry $v_2$. Our findings indicate that considering vacuum propagation prior to hydrodynamization leads to an increase in the $v_2$, thus corroborating the importance of the treatment of jet quenching in the initial stages for the correct description of both observables.Comment: 25 pages, 9 figures. Matches published version in JHE

Tailoring the Ti surface via electropolishing nanopatterning as a route to obtain highly ordered TiO2 nanotubes

Highly ordered TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) were synthesized by the electrochemical anodization of Tifoils subjected to electropolishing (EP) pre-treatment. We found that the Ti surface roughnessplays an important role in the onset of pore nucleation in enhancing the local focusing effect ofthe electrical field. Additionally, EP induces the formation of dimple structures on the metalsurface, which can work as a pre-pattern prior to anodization. These shallow ripples lead to apreferentially ordered pore nucleation, offering an organizational improvement of the anodicoxide NTs. We found that, depending on the EP applied potential, the roughness and the spatialperiod of the ripple-like structures varies from 82 nm and from 12230 nm, respectively. Suchtuning allowed us to focus on the influence of the initial Ti pre-surface topography features onthe NTs length, organization, and hexagonal arrangement quality, as well as diameter anddensity. Our results show that an EP under 10 V is the most suitable to obtain a small Ti surfaceroughness, the largest NT length (40% enhancement), and the effective improvement of theordered hexagonal NTs arrays over larger areas. Furthermore, the NTs dimensions (porediameters and density) were also found to depend on the initial Ti surface topography. The use ofoptimized EP allows us to obtain highly hexagonal self-ordered samples at a reduced timeand cost