Odderon in the Color Glass Condensate

We discuss the definition and the energy evolution of scattering amplitudes with $C$-odd ("odderon") quantum numbers within the effective theory for the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) endowed with the functional, JIMWLK, evolution equation. We explicitly construct gauge-invariant amplitudes describing multiple odderon exchanges in the scattering between the CGC and two types of projectiles: a color--singlet quark--antiquark pair (or `color dipole') and a system of three quarks in a colorless state. We deduce the energy evolution of these amplitudes from the general JIMWLK equation, which for this purpose is recast in a more synthetic form, which is manifestly infrared finite. For the dipole odderon, we confirm and extend the non--linear evolution equations recently proposed by Kovchegov, Szymanowski and Wallon, which couple the evolution of the odderon to that of the pomeron, and predict the rapid suppression of the odderon exchanges in the saturation regime at high energy. For the 3--quark system, we focus on the linear regime at relatively low energy, where our general equations are shown to reduce to the Bartels--Kwiecinski--Praszalowicz equation. Our gauge--invariant amplitudes, and the associated evolution equations, stay explicitly outside the M\"obius representation, which is the Hilbert space where the BFKL Hamiltonian exhibits holomorphic separability.Comment: 43 pages, 1 figur

JIMWLK evolution in the Gaussian approximation

We demonstrate that the Balitsky-JIMWLK equations describing the high-energy evolution of the n-point functions of the Wilson lines (the QCD scattering amplitudes in the eikonal approximation) admit a controlled mean field approximation of the Gaussian type, for any value of the number of colors Nc. This approximation is strictly correct in the weak scattering regime at relatively large transverse momenta, where it reproduces the BFKL dynamics, and in the strong scattering regime deeply at saturation, where it properly describes the evolution of the scattering amplitudes towards the respective black disk limits. The approximation scheme is fully specified by giving the 2-point function (the S-matrix for a color dipole), which in turn can be related to the solution to the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation, including at finite Nc. Any higher n-point function with n greater than or equal to 4 can be computed in terms of the dipole S-matrix by solving a closed system of evolution equations (a simplified version of the respective Balitsky-JIMWLK equations) which are local in the transverse coordinates. For simple configurations of the projectile in the transverse plane, our new results for the 4-point and the 6-point functions coincide with the high-energy extrapolations of the respective results in the McLerran-Venugopalan model. One cornerstone of our construction is a symmetry property of the JIMWLK evolution, that we notice here for the first time: the fact that, with increasing energy, a hadron is expanding its longitudinal support symmetrically around the light-cone. This corresponds to invariance under time reversal for the scattering amplitudes.Comment: v2: 45 pages, 4 figures, various corrections, section 4.4 updated, to appear in JHE

Traveling wave fronts and the transition to saturation

We propose a general method to study the solutions to nonlinear QCD evolution equations, based on a deep analogy with the physics of traveling waves. In particular, we show that the transition to the saturation regime of high energy QCD is identical to the formation of the front of a traveling wave. Within this physical picture, we provide the expressions for the saturation scale and the gluon density profile as a function of the total rapidity and the transverse momentum. The application to the Balitsky-Kovchegov equation for both fixed and running coupling constants confirms the effectiveness of this method.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, references adde

Gluon Saturation Effects at the Nuclear Surface: Inelastic Cross Section of Proton-Nucleus at Ultra High Energy Cosmic Ray domain

Considering the high-energy limit of the QCD gluon distribution inside a nucleus, we calculate the proton-nucleus total inelastic cross section using a simplified dipole model. We show that, if gluon saturation occurs in the nuclear surface region, the total cross section of proton-nucleus collisions increases more rapidly as a function of the incident energy compared to that of a Glauber-type estimate. We discuss the implications of this with respect to recent ultra-high-energy cosmic ray experiments.Comment: Published in Nuclear Physics A, 29 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl