Nuclear Physics B335 (1990) 115-137

North-Holland

SMALL-x BEHAVIOR AND PARTON SATURATION:

A QCD MODEL*

A.H. MUELLER

Physics Department, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA

Received 26 September 1989

A QCD model is defined to study questions of quark and gluon parton saturation at small
x-values. The model uses a source consisting of a nucleus of heavy quarkonium bound states,
states well understood in QCD. Deeply inelastic scattering, using the currents j(x) _ -
4 Fpv Fpv
and jjx) = ~y,,~, is evaluated in Born and one-loop approximation in order to extract quark and
gluon distributions. Quark distributions are observed to saturate while gluon distributions have a
saturating and a nonsaturating component.

1. Introduction
The x- and Q 2-dependence of parton distributions at very small values of the
Bjorken x-variable is one of the most interesting and challenging problems in QCD
[1-3]. This problem is intimately related to such diverse physical phenomena as
shadowing in deeply inelastic lepton scattering off nuclei [4-7], the amount of
energy produced in the central region of a heavy ion collision [8-10], minijet
production in high energy hadronic collisions [1,3,11] and perhaps even to the
growth of total hadronic cross sections at ultra high energies .
Some time ago Gribov, Levin and Ryskin [1] (GLR) suggested that parton
distributions should cease growing at small values of x, for a fixed Q 2. Their
argument is straightforward to understand, and I shall summarize it here consider-
ing, for simplicity, gluons as the only small-x partons . The gluon distribution
xG(x,Q Z) represents the number of gluons in the infinite momentum wave function
of the hadron in question . More specifically xG(x, Q2 ) gives the number of gluons
at transverse size 1dxl - 1/Q per unit rapidity interval at small x. Perturbative
calculations show that xG(x, Q2 ) grows rapidly with In 1/x at fixed Q Z. However,
when xG(x, Q z) > QZR2, with R the radius of the hadron in question, the gluons
within a given unit of rapidity begin to overlap in transverse coordinate space. AS
one proceeds to even smaller values of x one may expect annihilation, or recombi-
nation of gluons, to compete with evolution and so a limit to the growth of

* This work is supported in part by the DOE.

0550-3213/90/$03 .50 & Elsevier Science Publishers B.V .

(North-Holland)
11 6 A.H. Mueller / Parton saturation

xG(x, QZ) at very small values of x might be expected . Similar considerations apply
to xq(x, Q Z) + xq(x, Q z), the sea quark distributions in a hadron. GLR even
suggested a modified evolution equation which expressed this tendency toward
saturation at small x. The form of this equation was verified in ref. [4] and the
numerical coefficient of the nonlinear term was evaluated . This evaluation is
confirmed in sect. 4 without using the AKG [12] cutting rules, perhaps doubtful in
QCD .
In two earlier papers [13,14] the author has studied the question of parton
saturation in QED models . It was shown that electron-positron pair distributions
did indeed saturate in the strong (virtual) bremsstrahlung field created by rapidly
moving classical charges [13]. That is xe(x, Q Z) + xé(x, Q Z) approached a constant,
for fixed x and Qz, as the strength of the classical source was increased . In a later
paper [14] the produced electron-positron pairs were themselves considered to be
the source of bremsstrahlung photons which then create further electron-positron
pairs. A self-consistent solution to the photon and e+-e --distributions was found in
an approximation where the e +-e--pairs were assumed to remain uncorrelated
(unpolarized) in the oo-momentum wave function. Again, the electron-positron pair
density was found to saturate while the photon density, defined analogous to
xG(x, QZ ), continued to exhibit a slow growth (partial saturation) at very small
values of x.
To our knowledge no model of high parton densities has been discussed in QCD .
The purpose of the present paper is to discuss such a model . The small-x problem in
QCD is considerably more difficult than that of QED . The model discussed here is
analogous to the discussion given in QED in ref . [13] . However, instead of a
classical external source to generate small-x photons we consider a large nucleus of
heavy hadrons (charmonium states). This model has the advantage that charmonium
states are well understood color neutral bound states of QCD, at least for heavy
enough quark mass, Mc. The heavy hadrons are assumed to be contained in a
sphere of radius R and to form a low-density system when at rest. When this
nucleus moves at a constant and high velocity the individual heavy quarks and
antiquarks have their motion frozen over long times due to Lorentz time dilation.
During such times it makes sense to talk of the equivalent gluon fields of the quark
and antiquarks, a bremsstrahlung field much like that considered in ref. [13]. It is
straightforward to see that this bremsstrahlung field, the light-cone gauge vector
potential, becomes very strong, for a large nucleus, so long as the transverse
momentum of the bremsstrahlung gluons is greater than the inverse radius of the
individual charmonium states . (This latter condition means that the equivalent
gluons come from the individual quark and antiquark in the heavy hadron and are
not emitted coherently over the whole hadron.)
We then study both the light quark-antiquark pairs and the gluons produced in
this field. In each case, this is done at the one-quantum loop level and in the leading
logarithmic approximation . We find the following . (i) xq(x, Qz) + xq(x, QZ) ex-
 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation 11 7

hibits saturation. (ii) xG(x, QZ) exhibits a partial saturation at the one-loop level,
much as in the discussion of photon densities in ref. [14]. (iii) At the zero-loop level
xG(x, QZ ) is additive and exhibits no saturation . This zero-loop level is the level of
the bremsstrahlung (equivalent) gluons. This last result is perhaps surprising . In the
infinite-momentum frame the equivalent gluons overlap in space and can be at very
high density if the "nucleus" is large enough. Nevertheless, the gluon number
density remains additive at this "classical" level of calculation .
All our calculations are done in covariant gauge. Quark and gluon densities are
determined by calculating deep inelastic scattering using j(x) = - 1F,,',,F,, to
measure gluon densities and j,,(x) = 4,y,,ß to measure quark + antiquark densities.
It would be very instructive to repeat the calculations in light-cone gauge, where the
partonic interpretation is more transparent, but we have been unable to complete
these calculations due to ambiguities arising from the singular light-cone propaga-
tors.
How general can one expect the results found here to be? The saturation of
xq(x, Q Z) + xq(x, QZ ) is presumably not dependent on the specifics of our model
and should be a very general result. The lack of saturation of "equivalent" gluons in
the problem discussed here would seem to be a general property of large composite
sources (nuclei) . The rule appears to be that gluons directly emitted from spatially
nonoverlapping sources do not saturate . Gluons emitted from sources in the same
spatial region appear to exhibit a partial saturation. (Partial rather than complete in
our model because of the In 1/x in eq. (49).) The lack of complete saturation
reflects the independent emission from different rapidity intervals, the In 1/x in eq.
(49), and even different transverse momentum intervals [14]. We have no general
argument that emission from these different momentum regions of phase space
should be independent, that is a lack of strong color polarizing effects connecting
different rapidities and transverse momenta, and the model discussed here is not
really adequate to discuss this point.
Despite the lack of saturation of the gluon density, the additive "equivalent
gluon" term, physical quantities seem usually to obey saturation* . As an example,
consider minijets produced in the central region of a nucleus-nucleus collision .
One might imagine that many relatively soft quanta would be produced due to the
gg - gg process involving initial "equivalent gluons", one from each nucleus .
However, as soon as a gluon scatters and is able to become physical, in the sense of
being perturbatively on-shell, it immediately interacts strongly with all the other
equivalent gluons and obtains a transverse momentum, the size of the saturation
momentum being discussed in sect. 4.2. Of course, deeply inelastic scattering with
our source j = - 4F,° F~° directly measures this nonsaturating component . However,
we have no such current at our disposal in the real world. In principle, xG(x, QZ )
can be measured either by the Q2-variation of quark distributions or in direct

* I wish to thank E .M . Levin for an interesting discussion on this point .

11 8 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation

photon production experiments, but in each of these cases the connection to the
gluon distribution is only direct for momentum transfers above the saturation point.
It remains to be seen whether this nonsaturating component of xGA (x, Q 2) is just a
curiosity or whether it has interesting consequences . The nonsaturating term is
present, of course, only for nuclei and not for ordinary hadrons.

2. The source term and deep inelastic scattering in Born approximation

In this section we shall define the source term which will be used to generate soft
gluons . We then introduce the "current" j(x) = - 4F,°,F,,°, in order to study deep
inelastic scattering off the source . In this section we shall only consider inelastic
scattering in the Born approximation while one-loop corrections will be added in the
following section.

2 .1 . THE SOURCE TERM

In an abelian theory it is easy to construct a source term for soft (virtual)

photons. One need only consider the equivalent photons coming from a charged
classical source moving at constant velocity [13]. In the non-abelian theory the
situation is not so straightforward . In order to be sure that the source respects all
necessary Ward identities it is perhaps easiest to view the source as a collection of
heavy quark-antiquark bound states, with the bound states restricted to lie inside a
sphere of radius R . We suppose that ro/R << 1 where ro is the radius of the (ground
state) heavy-quark bound state. We furthermore suppose that the number, A, of
such heavy quark states in the sphere obeys A(ro/R) 3 << 1 so that the overall source
is a dilute system (nucleus) of heavy hadrons (nucleons). (Our only purpose in
considering the nucleons here as composed of heavy-quark states rather than
ordinary nucleons is that heavy-quark states are more or less well understood
dynamically while such is not the case for light hadrons.) In this dilute limit we may
suppose that the individual heavy hadrons do not interact with one another . Because
the individual elements of the source are color neutral the source cannot emit or
absorb single gluons . (In the following, we always require the heavy hadrons to be in
the ground state both before and after the scattering.) However, an individual heavy
quark bound state may emit and/or absorb two gluons as illustrated in fig. 1 .

aa bß

Fig. 1 . The source term for a single heavy hadron .

 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation 11 9

In fig . 1 the heavy quark state has its total momentum changed by an amount 4
by emitting, or absorbing, two gluons . In the rest system of the overall source d o = 0
while IA I < 1/R . If the overall source is boosted so that the individual heavy
hadrons have a momentum P +/ M >> 1, with M the mass of the heavy-quark state,
then a_= 0, 1A < 1/R and 4 + < P +/MR . We suppose that k + « P+/MR, the soft
gluon limit .
Define

s~b(k,a)=(2zr)32P+J fd4xe-ikx(P_QIAb(0)A9(x)IP) (1)

d~

as the source term for a single heavy hadron. Then

sab k Q) _ Sab2 P+s(k, A)k,, (k -,

ILP (
A)~
(2)
kz(k-o)2k+(k-,A)+

in light-cone gauge and

b sab 2P+s(k , ~) rl TI~

_
sw (k, 4) (3)
kz(k _ A)z

in covariant gauge . _7 - v = v _ for any vector v. Since JAI < 1/R while I k I > 1/ro
we shall neglect the A-dependence of s,,' in what follows . In covariant gauge the
source term is completely independent of 4 so long as 4 + «p +1MR, a relation
which is always obeyed in the soft gluon approximation . In eq. (1) s~b is to be
defined by the direct coupling of A to the heavy quarks, as illustrated in fig . 1 .
Evolution of the gluon distribution is not included in the source. To fix our
normalization it is convenient to give the conventionally defined gluon distribution,
before evolution, in terms of s. The relationship is

f d z kdk +
xG(x,Qz)=~J (2~) s s~(k)P (k)xzg(x-k+lP+)e~Qz-kz), (4)
a

k ~
with P,,(k) _ - g" +
kz

The overall source, S, is defined by distributing A charmonium states uniformly

over a sphere of radius R . Then, in covariant gauge,

s ab (k) A
b, z) 4
7rR 3
(k,
,UV
120 A . H. Mueller / Parton saturation

is the gluon source density . In eq. (6) we have expressed Sab in terms of coordinates
of the individual sources, b and z, expressed in the rest system of the source, and in
terms of the transverse momentum, k, of the emitted gluons. In the soft-gluon
approximation, and in covariant gauge, Sab does not depend on k + or 4 +. We shall
find it convenient to write, in covariant gauge,

Y_Sl°, (k,b, z) =2P+ ( N2 - 1) '1~`71v2 S(k,b, z)

a (k 2 )

so that

f f j S(k b
d 2b d z dk 2
(Na- z ) =AxG(x, Q 2 ) = xGA (x,
1) (2 ~ ) 2 Q2) (8)

where k 2 - QZ is imposed in the above integral .

2 .2 . DEEP INELASTIC SCATTERING IN THE BORN APPROXIMATION

Eq. (4) is simply a statement of the normalization convention we use . However,

eq. (8) is a nontrivial statement which we must now justify. In eq. (8) the notation
xGA = AxG implies that the gluon distribution for the whole source is simply the
sum of the gluon distributions of the individual heavy hadrons making up the
source. We shall now show that this is indeed the case when gluons are treated at
tree level, that is in the Born approximation . To see this, consider deeply inelastic
scattering off the source using the "current" j(x) = - 1 F,.F,,', . The lowest-order
graph is shown in fig . 2 where the scattering is seen to occur only off one element of
the source, that is off one heavy hadron in the source . Defining

3
W = (277) 2P+ f d4xe`4x(PJj(x)j(O)IP) ,
q+k i q+kt +k 2 +a q+k 2

li illllllll%

Fig . 2 . Deeply inelastic scattering off a single Fig . 3 . A possible nonadditive term to deeply
heavy hadron of the source. inelastic scattering .
 A . H. Mueller / Parton saturation 121

with JP) representing the source whose individual elements have momentum near P
one finds

r d z bdz3 ,. d
W=irs(N,z-1) J k S(k,b,z) (10)
(27r) k

with s = 2p - q, so that

xGA = (2/7rs) W = AxG (11)

in agreement with eq. (8) at this lowest-order calculation .

To see that eq. (8), or eq. (11), is in fact true at the general Born approximation
level, the level where gluonic loops are neglected, we must show that graphs such as
the one shown in fig. 3 give a small contribution. In covariant gauge the gluons
interacting with the sources all have polarization proportional to -~, as given by eq.
(3), and the minus component of the gluon momenta are zero, so that gluons coming
directly from the various sources cannot interact. Rather, gluon interactions must
occur only on the gluon line connecting the absorption and emission of the current,
j(q), as in the example of fig. 3. Let us now show that the contribution shown in fig .
3 is indeed small .
It will suffice to examine the integrals over dkl+ ,dk z+ and d4 +. The relevant
integral is

I- dk I+ dk 2 + dA + exp(id + ( z1 -zz )1/ 2 )

12
f (+q)
k1 z +is] [(kz+q)z+i,- ] [(k l +k z + A+q) z +ie] ()

where we only include denominators having a nontrivial kl+, k2+ or 4 +-depen-

dence. The factor exp(i 4+(zi - zz)1/ F) gives the longitudinal coordinate depen-
dence of the two sources, labelled by eqs . (1) and in fig . 3 . In arriving at the
exponential factor we have assumed that the two heavy hadrons are effectively at
rest over the time of the collision, and we have used d Z = (1/v/-2-)(4+- 4_) with
4 = 0. Then

1 dkl+ dk z+ d d + exp(i 4_ +(zi - zz)1 /Vf2 )

(13)
'
I~ (2q_) 3 f [ (kl+q) + +ie] [ (kz+q) + +ie] [ (ki+k2+4+q) + +ie~

z z > zl or we may distort the 4 +contour of integration to give zero. If z z > zl we

122 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation

may evaluate the 4 + integration to give

-27ri dkl+ dk2+ exp[ i(z 2_ z1)(ki+k2+q) +/~2_1

Ir (2q_) 3 f f(k , +q) + +ie]f(k2+q) + +iE]
(14)

But in eq. (14) the kl+ and k 2+ contours can be distorted into the upper-half-planes
to give a vanishing result. Thus, I = 0. Of course the k l+ , k2+ and A + integrals
depend on the source when I k l+ 1, 1k2+ I or IA + I ? I/ro so that one cannot really
distort the contours to infinity as indicated in eq. (14). However, in order to get a
result which is not exponentially small one needs I z l - Z21 < ro, a configuration
which is highly unlikely in the dilute limit A(ro/R) 3 « 1. In fact, the typical size of
Izl - z21 is of order R .
The vanishing of 1 is of course related to causality . The heavy hadrons making up
the source do not overlap in the dilute approximation . In a covariant gauge
calculation of deep inelastic scattering causality requires that the interaction with
hadron (1) occur either before or after that of hadron (2) . But with the current
j = - 4F".F,, ' there are no such graphs allowing this to happen until one introduces
gluonic loops, the subject of the next section . Thus, in the Born approximation,
deeply inelastic scattering occurs additively off the different heavy hadrons making
up the source as stated quantitatively in eqs . (8) and (11) .
This result, additivity of the scattering off different "nucleons" in the "nucleus"
is natural in the rest system of the source, but it is perhaps a little surprising in the
infinite-momentum frame of the source. In the infinite-momentum frame deep
inelastic scattering takes place off the equivalent gluons of the source. Our Born
approximation result implies that the number of equivalent soft gluons of the whole
source is just the sum of the equivalent gluons from the separate sources . That is,
equivalent gluons coming from different hadrons in the source do not interact even
though they overlap and form a high density gluonic system . Equivalent gluons do
not saturate . It is very difficult to obtain this result directly in light-cone-gauge
quantization because of the technical difficulty of dealing with singular light-cone-
gauge denominators . We have already discussed in sect. 1 in what sense gluon and
quark saturation can be expected to hold. Here we see that xG(x, Q2) itself cannot
be expected to exhibit saturation .

3. Deep inelastic scattering in the one-loop approximation

In this section we shall calculate deep inelastic scattering off the source in
one-loop approximation. We shall begin by considering the purely gluonic case with
current j(x) = - QF,,,F~ ; afterwards, the one-fermion loop calculation will be
done. In each case we find it most convenient to do the calculation in the rest
system of the source and in covariant gauge.
 A.H. Mueller / Parton saturation 123

q-.C q-,f

Fig . 4 . One-gluon loop terms in deeply elastic scattering off a single element of the source.

3 .1 . THE ONE-GLUON LOOP

At order g2, not counting the couplings to the source, the graphs are as illustrated
in fig . 4 for deep inelastic scattering in the one-gluon loop approximation . We view
the process in the rest frame of the source where the current has a large q_
momentum component with q 1 = 0. Q2 = - 2q+ q_. The lines q - l and 1 + k are
on-shell and only physical polarizations of these lines contribute to the structure
function W since the initial current and source are gauge invariant . We label the
polarizations of the gluons 1 + k and q -1 by

in which case

E~( q - 1 ) = (0, 0, El) , (16)

( (t+k) EZ
EX(1+k) = 0, Ei), (17)
1_

with a = 1, 2 referring to the two independent polarizations in some basis . In writing

eqs . (16) and (17) we have assumed k_« l_« q_ which further specifies that we
work only in the logarithmic approximation of longitudinal-momentum integration .
That is, in our small-x limit we are only working to logarithmic accuracy in In 1/x .
We begin our calculation by evaluating the graphs shown in fig . 5, after which the
structure function W, at lowest order in g 2, can be obtained by squaring the

Fig. 5 . Lowest-order gluon-pair production.

124 A.H . Mueller / Parton saturation

amplitude obtained and multiplying by the source function, S. The contribution of

the graph shown in fig . 5a is

I
ra=E~(q-l)sß(1+kr~ß vaY 12g fdbc~ (18)

with r1.ßß the three-gluon vertex, v«y the current-two-gluon vertex and -t the
projection from the source giving the dominant small-x contribution . fabc is the
color factor for the graph . To establish our normalization conventions we list vay
and r,ßß below:

r~ß .=ga~(1-k)ß+gßt.(2k+1)~-g«ß(21+k)~, (19)

va y =gay l'(q - 1) - ly(q - 1), ( 20 )

It is necessary to keep the maximum number of q-'s and thus v., may be replaced
by
. (21)
v~r - q-[ga y l + - l y,1 a ]
Also one finds

,r,ß. =ß a (1-k) ß +ßß (2k+1)~-21_g ßß . (22)

Using eqs. (21) and (22) in (18) one finds

-2lgfab cq-
ra= 1. . E
2. ( 23 )
12
Ell

Similarly, for the term given by the graph of fig. 5b one obtains

( 2(1+k) -el (l+k) *e 2 1

rb = - IgfabcR- El' Ez - ( 24 )
(1 + k)2 II ~

after using
q- [y «yl y + ,1«rl y - 2g_y] ( 25 )

vßß =q-[ gaß(1+k)+-(1+k)«~Iß] - ( 26 )

In order to evaluate the contribution from fig . 5c we need to know the coupling of
three gluons to j, which coupling is

(27)
U~ßy=-i[gß~ ( 2k+l)y-gy~(q-l+k)ß-gßy(21+k-q)~]fabc,

or v ~ßy = - Iq - [ gß y'n~ - g y ~'nß1fabc* ( 28 )

 A.H. Mueller / Parton saturation 125

Thus,
(29)
Tc - '9'7-fabc'l * E2 '

Finally, one finds the contribution from the graph shown in fig . 5d to be

(I+k) *E2k'El
d = -2Îgfabc (30)
(I + k) 2 .

Adding eqs . (23), (24), (29) and (30) one arrives at

I+k I
T~~Z =Ta +Tb +T, . (31)
12I E22
+Td=2igfabcq-I .$i'I
(1+k)2

We can now calculate W by squaring T and summing over the two independent
polarizations Xl and ~'2,

k2
I Ta~21 2 = (32)
l
b. c A . X 2 4g2q? CA (1 + k) 2

Using eqs . (32), (9) and (7) one obtains

d (N2 - 1)aCA 2bdz dk + d 2 kd 2 I

W (i) = s
f (27r) 3 k+ f k2(1 + k)2
S(k,b, z) (33)

or, in the leading logarithmic approximation for transverse momentum integrals

12/k 2 >> 1, Q2/12 >> 1

dp+ dk + 2bdz d2 k aC,, Q 2

W(l )=(N2 -1)7rs~ S(k,b,z) ln - . (34)
xp+ k+ (27793 k2 7 k2

s = 2P - q and the superscript (1) on W indicates an interaction with a single

element of the source . Using W = 277SXG,q we are able to calculate xGA at the
one-loop level through order g 2.
Let us now proceed to higher orders in g. Consider, for example, the graphs of
the type shown in fig . 6 . It is straightforward to reduce these graphs to those
appearing in fig . 5 by picking up the pole, in k+ , of the (q - I - k - Q)-propagator
in the first term and the pole of the (k + l)-propagator in the second term in fig. 6.
We may assume that these lines only carry physical polarizations since the pole
terms correspond to a discontinuity in (q -P) 2 of the process j(q) + source -
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eY~' .,TY,~.,Y .; (35)

one

00
Ti~â2(9- dz' ZS++(k>bz~)
(21r)

X9ÇA(Ta,Z(q-1,1+k)-Tala2(q-1+k,1))
fabc

where . .
(37) . .
Using

iac
Tâi~Z(q-1,1+3,b,z)=s
12Af

21-Eî"
(38)
12

In .
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It
able
inelastic .
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pole
distorted
 A . H. Mueller / Parton saturation 127

q_1+k+L%i _ 4'.C

llr - - ~lllllis

Fig. 7. Higher-order gluon pair-production.

be distorted to pick up the pole of the (1 +,A - k)-line. When all graphs are included
the on-shell gluon lines may be chosen to have only physical polarizations . In all
cases gluons from the external source have polarization -t.. One finds

T(") (q- 1, 1,b, z) =

-f
00
dz' f aCA d2 k
(k2)2

x [2T(" -1)(q - 1, 1, b, z') - T (" -1) (q - l + k, l - k, b, z')

-T( "-1)(q-1-k,l+k,b,z')]S(k,b,z) (39)

where T(") represents the interaction with n elements of the source and T(" -1) the
interaction with (n - 1) elements of the source. In eq. (39) the 4 +variable is now
viewed as determined by the (1 +,A)2 = 0, the masslessness of the (l + .A)-line. Thus,
(l +,A)+= 1 2/21_, and we now take 1_ as the free variable giving the mass of the
final two-gluon state as (q +A)2.
Eq. (39) is the fundamental equation which gives the rule for interaction with an
element of the source at (b, z) after earlier interactions at (b, z') with z' > z. (Recall
that q_ is the large variable corresponding to the gluon pair moving in the negative
z-direction .) In order to solve eq. (39) it is convenient to transform the l-variable to
coordinate space . Thus, define

d 2x
T n2(q-1,1,b,z)-,~ 27T eXp( - il . X)Tiâ2 (q,1,X,b,Z), (40)

where the remaining 1-dependence of T(q, 1, x, b, z) is only through the =variable

.
(The /,-variable has been previously determined to be 1+ = q+ from (q - 1) 2 = 0.)
Then the combination of T's appearing on the right-hand side of eq. (39) gives the
factor

[2-exp(ik-x) - exp(-ik-x)] - (k . X) 2 , (41)

128 A . H. Mueller / Parton saturation

where we always suppose k2/12 << 1 which now becomes (k . x)2 << 1. Thus,
eq. (39) can be cast in the form

2
Ttn)(q, 1,x,b, z) = 2aCax2f
(42) S(b,k, z)T(n-1)(q, 1,x,b, z) ,
kk

which means that

T = Y_ T (1) (43)
n=1

is given by

r aCAx 2 dk2 l X " E1x*E2

T(q,1,x,b,z)=2is expl 2 f k2 f dz'S(b,k,z')J-1 (X2) 2

(44)

where the prefactor has been chosen to agree with eq. (38), which now reads

dk 2 x*elx , e 2
T(1) (q, I,x,b, z) = _iaCAS f dz' f kS(b,k, z') (45)
Z X2

The upper limit of the dk2 integral in eqs . (42), (44) and (45) is 1/x2 to be
consistent with our approximation k2/1 << 1 .
If one defines

W(Q 2 , x) = 2b 2 (46)
fd W(Q , X,b) ,

then

2_ ÔT(1
W(Q 2 , x,b) _ -
((2~13S
)
In 1x f-, dz E TXla2 -'
2 d2 x + W(1) (47)
1 a1'2

with T and Vl~ given by eqs . (44) and (45) respectively and with W (1) given by
eq. (34) as

aCA (N, -1)S 1 0o Q2dk2

Q2
(48)
W~l~(Q 2 , x,b) = ln-f dzf S(k,b, z) In- .
87r x -~ o k2 IT k2
 A . H. Mueller / Parson saturation 129

Thus,

(N2- 1)ln(1
l
W (Q2, x, b) = /x) s
47r2

00 dx 2 aCA z dk2
x f1/Qz x2) 2 ~1-exp( 2 x2 1/X
f ~dzS(k,b,z)) (49)
, k2
(

with

xGA(Q 2 , x, b) = ( 2 /iTs)W(Q 2 , x,b), (50)

XGA(Q 2, x) = f d 2bXGA (Q2 , x,b) . ( 51)

3 .2 . THE ONE-FERMION LOOP

Now we shall repeat the calculation we have just completed but for a quark loop
rather than a gluon loop. We begin by examining lowest order quark-antiquark
production given by the graphs of fig . 8, which graphs are the fermionic analogs of
the graphs of fig . 5. Our current now is the electromagnetic current though we shall
suppress flavor dependence for simplicity . Then the contribution of the graphs
shown in fig . 8 is

(u,(1+k)y-_7iy-lyv,,(q-1)
12

u,(l+k)yu ty - (q - l - k)ly - -7lv,, (q - 1)

(52)

where e,,(q) is the transverse polarization vector of the virtual photon and TI is a
color matrix connecting the initially color neutral system to the final quark-anti-

q-2, r

Fig . 8 . Quark-pair production at lowest order .

130 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation

quark pair in an octet state. Using

12=21_(q+-12/2q-y(1-y)), (53)

(q-1-k)2=2(q-1)-(q+-(1+k)2/2q-y(1-y)) (54)

with y = 1_/q_ one finds

,= ur(1)Y-EUr,(q-1) - Ûr ( 1+k)Y--vr,(q-l-k)
1,rr -gT° (55)
~q+- 12/2q-y(1-y) q+ -(1+k)2/2q_y(1-y)

with l-= l_, 1 1 = l1 and 1+ =1 2/21- with similar relations for (q - 1- k) . Now

1E
srr'[r(1-2y)-+1] (56)
ûr( ')Y-EUr,(q-1)=
y(1-y)

with the + referring to the photon polarization and r = ± 1 the quark helicity

1
E~ = (0,1, ± t,() - (EO , el, E21 E3) (57)
2

Thus,

(I+k) E
Frr'-2'gq-Ta y(1-1) 2
1 .E 2
-
2
2
[Q y(1 -y) +1 Q y (1- y ) +(1+k)

X Srr , [r(1 - 2y) + 1] . (58)

The structure function, W, defined by

W=(21r)32P+ f d°xe ' gz(Pjjjx)J,(0)jP)EaE . (59)

is given by

W=2P+ f d(2d)3+
(k2) 2 S(k,b>Z)
d 41
(2~)4 2 7rS [ (q-l)2] 2 7rS [ (l+k)2]

X ~Irrr'I2 ( N2-1), (60)

r, r'

where Y-r, r , l rrr , l includes a factor tr T°Ta with no sum over the a-index, the sum
 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation 131

already included in the (N2 - 1) factor in eqs . (7) and (60). In the limit k2/12 << 1,
12/Q 2 << 1, the logarithmic region of integration, one finds

N 2 -1 aN Q2 dk2 2
(1)= c x _f
67T 2
d2bdzf
o 2
k
I n _ QZ
k
S(k,b, z) (61)

with x = Q 21S . Now using

q(x, Q 2) + q(x, Q 2 ) = (1/2v) W (62)

we arrive at

2 (2b , 2
e fQz Q
xq(x , QZ ) + xq(x, QZ ) _ (NC2 - 1)
3 f 77
)s
kk21n( 2)
S(k,b, z) .

(63)

Eqs . (61) and (63) are the fermionic analogs of (11) and (34).
To continue our fermionic calculation along the same lines as the bosonic case it
is convenient to convert the l-variable to an x variable. For T, (q - 1, 1 + k), given
in eq. (58), it is first useful to use the formula

F,,,(q-1,1+k)=2y(1-y)gq-Tasrr, [ r(I-2y)+l ] [F(1)-F(I+k)] (64)

I-e
with I'(1) = 2 (65)
Q y(1 -y) + 12

and then to write

d2 x
F(1) = f 2~ exp( -il - x) r(x) (66)

with F(x) _ - ie-7Ko( Q Zx2y(1- y) ) . (67)

Defining

r ,(q-1,1+k)= f d2x
277
exp(-il-x)F ,(q,1,x), (68)
132 A . H. Mueller / Parton saturation

q_.C , r'

Fig. 9. Quark-pair production at order g z .

one has

rrr'(q,1,x) =2gq-Ta8rr ' [r(1 -2y) -

+1] y(1-y)

X[1-exp(-ik-x) ]( -ie-v)KO ( Q2x2y(1-y)) . (69)

Eq . (69) will prove to be a useful form for the discussion which follows.
Now consider the order g2 -amplitude illustrated in fig. 9. We pick up poles in the
(k + 1) and (q - 1 + k 4)-denominators exactly as before . Using

ÛS(q-l+k-A)y-~v,,(q-1) = 8,,s2(q-l) -, (70)

û,(l+a)r'7,us(k+1)=8r,21-, (71)

one obtains

d2 k
T9(q-1, l+ 3,b, z) =f dz' f (k, b, z')(igCF/Ta )
(2~r)ZSaa

x(r,(q-1,1+k)-r,(q-l+k,1)) . (72)

The 1/T a factor in eq. (72) means that the T°-factor in eq. (58) is cancelled out in
eq. (66) . Going to x-space

_ ~ dk2
T1)(q,l,x,b,z)=2saCF y(1-y) f dz' (kk 2 [2-exp(ik-x)-exp(-ik-x)]
z

x s ,S(k,b, z') [r(1- 2y) T 1] e - 7K o . (73)

 w
A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation 133

q- .2, r' Q-R,rl

. +k+D
.
0

k +A,-A

v"~ ,t+a,r

Fig. 10 . Quark-pair production in general order.

When (k - x)2 <<

1 one has

A2
x2 f
i
T( ) (q, l,x,b, z) =saC..j_1_-y) dz'f k2 S(k,b, z')

(74)
X Srr, [r(1 - 2Y) + 1 1 £' OKO( Q 2 x 2Y( 1 - Y) ) .

Proceeding to the general graph, shown in fig . 10, one has a relation identical to
that given in eq. (39) except for the replacement of C,, by CF . Defining T as in eq .
(43) one has

d
(75) 2 dk2 S(k,b, z) T(q, l,x,b, z) ,
T(q' l> x,b, z) = zacFx f
dz k2

whose solution is

( dk2 1
T(q,1,x,b,z) = -s y(1-y) lexp(-iaCFx 2 S(k,b, z') _ l l
z,J k2

x srr, [(1 - 2Y) r + 112E - vKa(Q2 x2y(1 - Y) ),

(76)

where the normalization is fixed to agree with eq. (74).

With W(Q 2 , x, b) defined as in eq . (46) one has

NfNc dY dT~ l~*

W(Q2 , x,b) = f dz Trr , ( - rr/ ) d2x + W~l~ (77)
4s(271)3 r,r" Y(1 -Y) dz
134 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation

with W( 1) obtained from eq . (61) . This gives

-2Nf N oc dx 2
W(Q 2 , x,b) c 2
37r2x l/Q2 ( x2 )

dk 2
f
1/X2 00
xx ~exp - aCF
( 2
2
fo z
k
dz S(k,b, z) - (78)

Thus

4N N d2b dx 2
Q2)
+ xq(x, Q2) =
xq(x,
37T c f (27T)2
°1/Q2
(x2)2

aCF dk 2
f
2 1 /X2 l
x~l-exp(-
2
x
fo k2
,dzS(b,k,z))I . (79)

4. Discussion and interpretation of the results

In this section we shall discuss and interpret the results we have found in the
preceding two sections .

4.1 . COMPARISON WITH THE GLUON RECOMBINATION FORMULA

We may use eq . (47) to compare with the previous results of ref. [4] on gluon
recombination as it occurs in a properly modified Altarelli-Parisi equation . Thus,
we wish to evaluate (47) at order g4. It is convenient to write eq. (47) with T(l) in 1
rather than in x-space . (See eq . (40) .) Thus,

W (2) (Q 2 , x, b) = - r(Nc2 - 1 )/( 27T) 3 ] s In 1/x

,y_
xf dz
X1 " X2
Ti;;~2(q-1,1,b,z) *(ôT(l) 2/az)(q-1,l,b,z)

(80)
 A. H. Mueller / Parton saturation 135

with Tâi~ z given by eq. (38). Substituting eq. (38) in (80) and using (50) one finds
(N~z_ 1)
z 1
xGÂZ ) (Qz, x, b) _ - 4~a
7 (aCA) In-

12 dk 2
1 2 dk' 2 2 7rdl 2
x f a
dz
fZ dz'f i f ;z f Q
o k o k o (12 )
2 S(k',b, z')S(k,b, z)

21 21-ex,1 Eaz \ .
' EX 2 -
X -E0-EÀ
12 E' 2 - 81
E~1
12 21( "1

z
f ~z ''(k ' b ' z) _ (N23 1)R3 AxG(x,1 2) (82)

from eq. (8) one finds, using eqs . (51) and (82) in (81),

fQz
1
xGA2) ( Q z , x) _ - z(aCA) z (Nzn(1)Rz Jo . (83)
[12 ]2 ~xG(x, 12 ) z

This leads to

d 47r3 aCA z 1 ,1 dx' (X,)2 .

Q270 x) _ _ Gâz) ( x,, Q2) (84)
2XGA(Q2, N~z _ 1 ( 7 ) z ;
Q x

2.
with GÂZ ) (x, Qz ) = 817R2 [ G(x, Q2) (85)

Eqs. (84) and (85) correspond to eqs . (30) and (27), respectively, of ref. [4] . We are
unable to make the same comparison between eq. (79) and eq. (31) of ref. [4]
because the G HT appearing in the latter equation has not been evaluated for the
present problem .
4 .2 . DO GLUON AND QUARK DENSITIES SATURATE?

Eq. (79) exhibits saturation of quark-antiquark densities. To see this more clearly
let x 2 =1/K 2, then

4N N dzb z
xq(x , Q2 ) + x9(x, Q2 ) = 3v c f (2 ) z
v f~ dK2

f dzS(b,k,z) l1) . (86)

( aCF K z dkz
xSl-exp[ z f 2
2K o k J- c J
136 A . H. Mueller / Parton saturation

Define the saturation momentum, Qs, by

Q2 acF f Qs dk2 , oo
s dzS(b,k, z) (87)
2 Jo k2 J

or using eq. (82),

377
2
Qs( b) = aCF( N 2 -1 ) R 2 1 - b /R 2 AxG(x,Q 2 ) . (88)

Then, for Q 2 >> Q8 (we neglect the weak b-dependence of Qs) (Q2 a/d Q 2 )x(q + q)
obeys the perturbative evolution equation while for Q 2 < QS ,

x(q+4) = (NfN,,/31T2)R2Q2, (89)

a form which explicitly exhibits the saturation of quark-antiquark pairs .

In one-loop approximation the gluon density xG(x, Q 2 ) given by eqs . (49)-(51)
also exhibits a partial saturation . Defining Qs as in eq. (88), but with CF replaced
by CA, one finds

XGA (x, Q2) = [( N2- 1 )/ 27T 2 1 ln(1/x) Q 2R2 . (90)

Thus, the gluon distribution does not show an exact saturation in this one-loop
approximation, but has an additional factor of ln(1/x) . We have previously seen
such additional logarithmic factors in QED and we expect them to occur generally .
Here the ln(1/x)-factor represents independent gluon emission in different rapidity
intervals, where we work in the approximation 1/(2Mx) >> 1 . Perhaps the more
surprising fact is that one is left with the zero-loop contribution given by eq. (11),
XGÂ O)(x, Q 2 ) = AxG(x, Q 2 ) which is an additive contribution to the gluon distribu-
tion. It seems clear that higher loop contributions will not cancel this term. How do
we interpret this apparently nonsaturating component of xGA (x, Q 2 )?
The nonsaturating component, given by eqs . (10) and (11), comes from the gluons
"equivalent" to the Coulomb field . In the rest system of the source one speaks of
the Coulomb field of the individual heavy quarks making up the heavy hadrons of
the source, while in the "infinite-momentum frame" of the source this Coulomb
field becomes a set of "equivalent" gluons. If the heavy hadrons of the source have
momentum P along the z-axis, the source size, in the z-direction, is limited to
dz = 2R - M/P by the Lorentz contraction factor . Equivalent gluons having mo-
mentum fraction x < 1/2RM overlap the whole source in the longitudinal direction
but, according to eq. (10) and the discussion that follows that equation, these
overlapping gluons do not interact with one another . We have tried very hard to
obtain this result directly in the infinite-momentum frame in light-cone gauge, but
 A . H. Mueller / Parton saturation 137

we have been unable to settle the ambiguities due to the singular light-cone
denominators to an extent which would allow the completion of this calculation .
Our conclusion, however, in terms of the covariant gauge calculation is firm.
It thus appears that gluons coming from sources which occupy distinct regions in
longitudinal coordinate space do not saturate but in fact are additive even though
these gluons have sufficiently small momentum so that they overlap in coordinate
space . Of course, to the extent that small-x gluons arise through evolution, in x or
Q 2, from gluons or quarks which do spatially overlap, saturation, or at least a
partial saturation, will occur as illustrated in eqs . (49) and (79).

References
[1] L .V. Gribov, E .M . Levin and M.G . Ryskin, Nucl . Phys . B188 (1981) 555 ; Phys . Rep . 100 (1983) 1
[2] E.M . Levin and M .G . Ryskin, LNPI report 1316 (1987)
[3] J .C . Collins, in Proc . 7th Topical Workshop on Proton-Antiproton Collider Physics, Fermilab, 1988
[4] A .H . Mueller and J . Qiu, Nucl . Phys . B268 (1986) 427
[5] J . Qiu, Nucl . Phys . B291 (1987) 746
[6] L . Frankfurt and M . Strikman, Phys . Rep . 160 (1988) 235 ; Nucl. Phys . B316 (1989) 340
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