A few comments on the high-energy behavior of string scattering amplitudes in warped spacetimes

The high-energy behavior of string scattering in warped spacetimes is studied to all orders in perturbation theory. If one assumes that the theory is finite, the amplitudes exactly fall as powers of momentum.Comment: 6 page

R-Current DIS on a Shock Wave: Beyond the Eikonal Approximation

We find the DIS structure functions at strong coupling by calculating R-current correlators on a finite-size shock wave using AdS/CFT correspondence. We improve on the existing results in the literature by going beyond the eikonal approximation for the two lowest orders in graviton exchanges. We argue that since the eikonal approximation at strong coupling resums integer powers of 1/x (with x the Bjorken-x variable), the non-eikonal corrections bringing in positive integer powers of x can not be neglected in the small-x limit, as the non-eikonal order-x correction to the (n+1)st term in the eikonal series is of the same order in x as the nth eikonal term in that series. We demonstrate that, in qualitative agreement with the earlier DIS analysis based on calculation of the expectation value of the Wilson loop in the shock wave background using AdS/CFT, after inclusion of non-eikonal corrections DIS structure functions are described by two momentum scales: Q_1^2 ~ \Lambda^2 \, A^{1/3}/x and Q_2^2 ~ \Lambda^2 \, A^{2/3}, where \Lambda is the typical transverse momentum in the shock wave and A is the atomic number if the shock wave represents a nucleus. We discuss possible physical meanings of the scales Q_1 and Q_2.Comment: 44 pages, 3 figures; v2: typos corrected, refs added, discussion extende

Comparing AdS/CFT Calculations to HERA F_2 Data

We show that HERA data for the inclusive structure function F_2(x,Q^2) at small Bjorken-x and Q^2 can be reasonably well described by a color-dipole model with an AdS/CFT-inspired dipole-proton cross section. The model contains only three free parameters fitted to data. In our AdS/CFT-based parameterization the saturation scale varies in the range of 1-3 GeV becoming independent of energy/Bjorken-x at very small x. This leads to the prediction of x-independence of the F_2 and F_L structure functions at very small x. We provide predictions for F_2 and F_L in the kinematic regions of future experiments. We discuss the limitations of our approach and its applicability region, and argue that our AdS/CFT-based model of non-perturbative physics could be viewed as complimentary to the perturbative description of data based on saturation/Color Glass Condensate physics.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figures; v3: new plots added showing our model predictions for charm and longitudinal structure functions and photoproduction cross-section, discussion extended. The version to appear in PR

Gluon Structure Function of a Color Dipole in the Light-Cone Limit of Lattice QCD

We calculate the gluon structure function of a color dipole in near-light-cone SU(2) lattice QCD as a function of $x_B$. The quark and antiquark are external non-dynamical degrees of freedom which act as sources of the gluon string configuration defining the dipole. We compute the color dipole matrix element of transversal chromo-electric and chromo-magnetic field operators separated along a direction close to the light cone, the Fourier transform of which is the gluon structure function. As vacuum state in the pure glue sector, we use a variational ground state of the near-light-cone Hamiltonian. We derive a recursion relation for the gluon structure function on the lattice similar to the perturbative DGLAP equation. It depends on the number of transversal links assembling the Schwinger string of the dipole. Fixing the mean momentum fraction of the gluons to the "experimental value" in a proton, we compare our gluon structure function for a dipole state with four links with the NLO \emph{MRST} 2002 and the \emph{CTEQAB-0} parameterizations at $Q^2=1.5 \mathrm{GeV}^2$. Within the systematic uncertainty we find rather good agreement. We also discuss the low $x_B$ behavior of the gluon structure function in our model calculation.Comment: 44 pages, 10 figures, to be in accordance with the variant submitted to Phys. Rev.

From EMC- and Cronin-effects to signals of quark-gluon plasma

The EMC- and Cronin-effects are explained by a unitarized evolution equation, where the shadowing and antishadowing corrections are dynamically produced by gluon fusions. For this sake, an alternative form of the GLR-MQ-ZRS equation is derived. The resulting integrated and unintegrated gluon distributions in proton and nuclei are used to analyze the contributions of the initial parton distributions to the nuclear suppression factor in heavy ion collisions. A simulation of the fractional energy loss is extracted from the RHIC and LHC data, where the contributions of the nuclear shadowing and antishadowing effects are considered. We find a rapid crossover from week energy loss to strong energy loss at a universal critical energy of gluon jet $E_c\sim 10 GeV$.Comment: 35 pages, 13 figures, to be published in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

RHIC-tested predictions for low-pTp_T and high-pTp_T hadron spectra in nearly central Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC

We study the hadron spectra in nearly central $A$+$A$ collisions at RHIC and LHC in a broad transverse momentum range. We cover the low-$p_T$ spectra using longitudinally boost-invariant hydrodynamics with initial energy and net-baryon number densities from the perturbative QCD (pQCD)+saturation model. Build-up of the transverse flow and sensitivity of the spectra to a single decoupling temperature \Tdec are studied. Comparison with RHIC data at \ssNN=130 and 200 GeV suggests a rather high value \Tdec=150 MeV. The high-$p_T$ spectra are computed using factorized pQCD cross sections, nuclear parton distributions, fragmentation functions, and describing partonic energy loss in the quark-gluon plasma by quenching weights. Overall normalization is fixed on the basis of p+$\bar{\rm p}$(p) data and the strength of energy loss is determined from RHIC Au+Au data. Uncertainties are discussed. With constraints from RHIC data, we predict the $p_T$ spectra of hadrons in 5 % most central Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC energy \ssNN=5500 GeV. Due to the closed framework for primary production, we can also predict the net-baryon number at midrapidity, as well as the strength of partonic energy losses at the LHC. Both at the LHC and RHIC, we recognize a rather narrow crossover region in the $p_T$ spectra, where the hydrodynamic and pQCD fragmentation components become of equal size. We argue that in this crossover region the two contributions are to a good approximation mutually independent. In particular, our results suggest a wider $p_T$-region of applicability for hydrodynamical models at the LHC than at RHIC.Comment: 45 pages, 16 eps-figure

On the Spin content of the Nucleon

A QCD sum rule calculation of Balistky and Ji on the spin content of the nucleon is done with a different approach to the evaluation of the bilocal contributions and to the extraction of the nucleon pole residues. The result obtained is much more numerically stable which puts their conclusion that about half of the nucleon spin is carried by gluons on firmer ground.Comment: 7 pages, two (eps) figure, minor corrections and one figure adde