Conformal collider physics meets LHC data

Journal Article · 23 January 2025 · Physical Review. D.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.L011502 · OSTI ID:2506877

Lee, Kyle ; Meçaj, Bianka; Moult, Ian

The remarkably high energies of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have allowed for the first measurements of the shapes and scalings of multipoint correlators of energy flow operators, $⟨\mathrm{\Psi }\left|\mathcal{E}\right({\overrightarrow{n}}_1\left)\mathcal{E}\right({\overrightarrow{n}}_2)\cdots \mathcal{E}({\overrightarrow{n}}_k\left)\right|\mathrm{\Psi }⟩$ , providing new insights into the Lorentzian dynamics of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). In this letter, we use recent advances in effective field theory to derive a rigorous factorization theorem for the light-ray density matrix, $\rho =|\mathrm{\Psi }⟩⟨\mathrm{\Psi }|$ , inside high transverse momentum jets at the LHC. Using the light-ray operator product expansion, the scaling behavior of multipoint correlators can be computed from the expectation value of the twist-2 spin- $J$ light-ray operators, ${\mathbb{O}}^{\left[J\right]}$ , in this state, $\mathrm{Tr}\left[\rho {\mathbb{O}}^{\left[J\right]}\right]$ . We compute the light-ray density matrix at next-to-leading order, and combine this with results for the next-to-leading logarithmic scaling behavior of the correlators up to six-points, comparing with CMS open data. This theoretical accuracy allows us to resolve the quantum scaling dimensions of QCD light-ray operators inside jets at the LHC. Our factorization theorem for the light-ray density matrix at the LHC completes the link between recent developments in the study of energy correlators and LHC phenomenology, opening the door to a wide variety of precision jet substructure studies. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 2506877
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D., Journal Name: Physical Review. D. Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 111; ISSN PRVDAQ; ISSN 2470-0010
• Publisher: American Physical SocietyCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English