arXiv subjects

Han-Zhong Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Han-Zhong Zhang.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

System-size dependence of jet quenching from light to heavy-ion collisions at LHC

Single inclusive hadron suppression in high-energy heavy-ion collisions provides a sensitive probe of parton energy loss and jet transport coefficient in quark-gluon plasma (QGP). System size dependence of jet quenching can provide further constraints on the dynamics of jet quenching and parton energy loss. Motivated by recent experiments on light-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), we perform a systematic study of single-inclusive hadron suppression in O+O, Ne+Ne, Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC energies. The calculations are carried out within the next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD model, incorporating the nuclear modified initial-state parton distributions, final-state parton energy loss in the higher-twist approach and the temperature dependence of the jet transport coefficient $\hat q/T^3$ from the Bayesian analyses of previous experimental data at the Relativistic Heavy-ion Collider (RHIC) and LHC. Our model calculations can simultaneously describe the measured single-inclusive charged hadron $R_{AA}$ in O+O, Ne+Ne, Xe+Xe and Pb+Pb collisions over a broad range of event centralities and in the minimum-bias events. We further illustrate the system size dependence of jet quenching through the ratio $R_{\mathrm{NeNe}}/R_{\mathrm{OO}}$ and the modification factors $R_{AA}$ as a function of $\langle N_{\mathrm{coll}} \rangle$ which follow a common behavior at fixed $p_{\rm T}$, indicating the formation of QGP even in the smallest collision systems.

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arXiv2026

Unbiased Data-Driven Determination of the Nuclear Dipole Amplitude in the Color Glass Condensate

Gluon saturation limits the growth of parton densities at small Bjorken-$x$ and is expected to be most pronounced in heavy nuclei. Yet quantitative extractions of the nuclear gluon dipole amplitude have long relied on parametrized initial conditions, introducing uncontrolled model dependence that obscures genuine nuclear effects. We introduce a physics-informed neural-network framework that embeds the collinearly improved Balitsky-Kovchegov evolution equation directly into the training objective, allowing the impact-parameter-averaged dipole amplitude to be determined from data without assuming a functional form for its initial condition. Applying this framework to forward-hadron nuclear-modification-factor and coherent $J/ψ$ photoproduction data, we extract the $^{208}$Pb dipole amplitude at $x_0=0.01$ with QCD evolution and momentum-space positivity enforced throughout training. The evolved amplitude reproduces the measured cross sections across the available kinematic range and yields a saturation-scale ratio $Q_{s0,\mathrm{Pb}}^2/Q_{s0,p}^2 = 3.17^{+0.17}_{-0.10}$, consistent with simple geometric scaling. The extracted Pb initial condition is well described by a McLerran-Venugopalan-type form, in contrast to the proton, reflecting the higher color-charge density of a large nucleus. Using the same amplitude, we predict the rapidity dependence of the transverse-momentum ratio in $pp$, $p$Pb, and Pb$p$ collisions, finding agreement with recent LHCb measurements at low multiplicity without any system-dependent parameters. This work provides the first unbiased, data-driven determination of nuclear structure in the saturation regime and establishes a general strategy for embedding nonlinear evolution equations into machine-learning extractions of dynamically constrained observables.

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arXiv2026

Physics-Informed Global Extraction of the Universal Small-$x$ Dipole Amplitude

We extract the universal small-$x$ dipole scattering amplitude $N(r,x_B)$ from a global analysis based on a physics-informed neural network (PINN), without imposing a priori MV-type parametrization of the initial condition. The network provides a smooth and differentiable surrogate for $N(r,x_B)$, whose rapidity dependence is constrained by the collinearly improved Balitsky--Kovchegov evolution equation, while its functional form is simultaneously constrained by Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) data for the reduced total and charm cross sections, exclusive $J/ψ$ photoproduction measurements, and a positivity requirement for the momentum-space dipole amplitude. The resulting single universal amplitude consistently describes all fitted observables within a unified framework, alleviating the long-standing tension between total and charm channels encountered in conventional small-$x$ fits based on rigid parametric ansätze. Within the fitted kinematic domain, the best extracted PINN solution yields a smooth, non-negative momentum-space dipole over the full transverse-momentum range examined. Our results provide a robust and well-behaved input for Color Glass Condensate phenomenology across a broad class of high-energy processes.

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arXiv2026

Photon radiation induced by rescattering in strong-interacting medium with a magnetic field

The photon radiation induced by rescattering in a magnetized medium is investigated in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Within the high-energy limit, the photon emission rate and the associated electromagnetic energy loss are derived using the Gyulassy-Levai-Vitev formalism at first order in opacity, for a quark jet propagating a quark-gluon plasma under a background magnetic field. Quantitative analysis shows a slight suppression of the overall photon radiation over a broad range of jet energies in this process. This reduction in photon yield consequently leads to a moderate decrease in the electromagnetic energy loss of the jet. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the electromagnetic properties of strongly interacting matter in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions and motivate experimental comparison of photon yields from quark-gluon plasma with similar properties but distinct magnetic field strengths.

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arXiv2026

Jet cone size dependence of single inclusive jet suppression due to jet quenching in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV

Jet suppression in high-energy heavy-ion collisions results from jet energy loss and transverse-momentum broadening during jet propagation through the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). The jet cone size ($R$) dependence of this suppression offers crucial insights into the energy loss mechanisms and QGP transport properties. In our study, we implement a comprehensive approach within the perturbative QCD parton model that incorporates both elastic and inelastic energy loss mechanisms. For elastic processes the contribution from recoiling thermal partons reduces the net in-cone energy loss for a given jet radius. For inelastic processes, we account for the angular distribution of radiated gluons, the thermalization of soft gluons, and transverse-momentum broadening. Using this framework, we calculate the jet nuclear modification factors ($R_{AA}$) and their double ratios $R_{AA}(R=0.2-1.0)/R_{AA}(R=0.2)$, and systematically compare with ALICE, ATLAS and CMS data in 0-10\% and 30-50\% Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$ = 5.02~TeV. Numerical results show that $R_{AA}$ increases with the cone size $R$ because the in-cone energy loss decreases at larger radii. Specifically, as the radius $R$ grows, the probability for elastically scattered partons to escape the jet cone and the likelihood for radiated gluons to fall outside the cone both decrease, resulting in a net reduction of energy loss. The $R_{AA}$ double ratios are approximately unity for small radii ($R=0.4$ relative to $R=0.2$) and at high $p_{\rm T}\gtrsim200$ GeV$/c$, in agreement with the data within uncertainties.

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arXiv2026

Parton Fragmentation Functions Extracted with a Physics-Informed Neural Network

Reliable predictions of many high-energy strong interaction processes rely heavily on the non-perturbative parton fragmentation functions (FFs) extracted from existing experimental data. Conventional methods often require parameterized forms of FFs and additional scale evolution according to the Dokshitzer-Gribov-Lipatov-Altarelli-Parisi (DGLAP) evolution equations. We introduce a novel approach to determining parton FFs using a Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN). Unlike traditional methods, our approach does not require prior parameterized forms and directly integrates the DGLAP evolution equations into the neural network architecture, allowing the FFs to automatically satisfy these equations. We present new sets of parton FFs extracted from hadron spectra in electron-positron annihilation processes at next-to-leading order (NLO) in pQCD using this new technique. To validate our approach, we calculate charged hadron spectra in proton-(anti)proton collisions using the extracted FFs and demonstrate that the results align well with experimental data across a large range of colliding energies ($\sqrt{s}$ = 130, 200, 500, 630, 900, 1800, 2760, 5020, 5440, 7000 GeV). Our findings indicate that the PINN method not only simplifies the extraction process but also enhances the universal applicability of FFs across different energy scales. By eliminating the need for parameterized forms and additional DGLAP evolution, our approach represents a significant step forward toward fast and accurate extractions of non-perturbative quantities such as parton fragmentations functions and parton distribution functions.

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arXiv2025

Extracting Essential Non-perturbative Information in Jet Invariant Mass via the Bayesian Analysis

In this paper, we present a new three-dimensional non-perturbative (NP) function to account for and parameterize the NP contributions in the jet invariant mass spectrum, in addition to the conventional NP mass shift parametrization. By implementing Bayesian analysis on experimental data of the jet invariant mass from exclusive $W/Z+$jet events and inclusive jet events in $pp$ collisions at RHIC and LHC, where collisional energy increases by a factor of up to $65$ from RHIC to LHC, we ensure the analysis covers a wide range of data. For the first time, we simultaneously extract NP contributions from hadronization, initial soft-gluon radiation, and underlying events, based on two different NP prescriptions. We find that the contribution from initial soft-gluon radiation is negligible, and the hadronization effect dominates in the small-$R$ region, while underlying events provide the dominant contribution in the large-$R$ region. Moreover, when only hadronization effects are considered, our results successfully describe the jet mass data measured in $e^+e^-$ collisions, where only hadronization effects are expected to be present. Our work offers quantitative insights into understanding the soft hadronic contribution to jet substructure.

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arXiv2024

The medium-temperature dependence of jet transport coefficient in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

The medium-temperature $T$ dependence of the jet transport coefficient $\hat q$ was studied via the nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}(p_{\rm T})$ and elliptical flow parameter $v_2(p_{\rm T})$ for large transverse momentum $p_{\rm T}$ hadrons in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. Within a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD parton model for hard scatterings with modified fragmentation functions due to jet quenching controlled by $\hat q$, we check the suppression and azimuthal anisotropy for large $p_{\rm T}$ hadrons, and extract $\hat q$ by global fits to $R_{AA}(p_{\rm T})$ and $v_2(p_{\rm T})$ data in A + A collisions at RHIC and LHC, respectively. The numerical results from the best fits show that $\hat q/T^3$ goes down with local medium temperature $T$ in the parton jet trajectory. Compared with the case of a constant $\hat{q}/T^3$, the going-down $T$ dependence of $\hat{q}/T^3$ makes a hard parton jet to lose more energy near $T_{\rm c}$ and therefore strengthens the azimuthal anisotropy for large $p_{\rm T}$ hadrons. As a result, $v_2(p_{\rm T})$ for large $p_{\rm T}$ hadrons was enhanced by approximately 10% to better fit the data at RHIC/LHC. Considering the first-order phase transition from QGP to the hadron phase and the additional energy loss in the hadron phase, $v_2(p_{\rm T})$ is again enhanced by 5%-10% at RHIC/LHC.

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arXiv2023

Momentum and angular correlations in \texorpdfstring{$Z/γ$}{Z/gamma}-hadron production in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We carry out a detailed study of medium modifications on momentum and angular correlations between a large transverse momentum hadron and a $Z/γ$ trigger in relativistic heavy-ion collisions within a perturbative QCD parton model improved by the Sudakov resummation technique. The total energy loss of a hard parton propagating inside the medium is employed to modify the fragmentation function, while the medium-induced transverse momentum broadening is included in the resummation approach, and both of them are related to the jet transport parameter and obtained by the high-twist formalism. We obtain good agreements with the existing data on transverse momentum and azimuthal angular correlations for the $Z/γ$-hadron pairs in $pp$ and $AA$ collisions, and predict the correlations for the $γ$-hadron in central $PbPb$ collisions at 5.02 TeV. The numerical analyses for the $Z/γ$-hadron in central $PbPb$ collisions show that the normalized angular distribution is decorrelated due to the medium-induced transverse momentum broadening, however, the angular correlation is enhanced due to the parton energy loss, namely anti-broadening. The observed modification of the angular correlation is a result of the competition between the broadening and the anti-broadening. This work provides a reliable theoretical tool for a comprehensive and precise study of jet quenching in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

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arXiv2022

Enhancement of baryon-to-meson ratios around jets as a signature of medium response

We present a unique signal of jet-induced medium excitations: the enhancement of baryon-to-meson ratios around the quenched jets.To illustrate this, we study jet-particle correlations and the distributions of jet-induced identified particles with respect to the jet direction in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC via a multi-phase transport model.We find a strong enhancement of baryon-to-meson ratios for associated particles at intermediate transverse momentum around the triggered jets in Pb+Pb collisions relative to p+p collisions, due to the coalescence of jet-excited medium partons.Since the lost energy from jets can diffuse to large angles, such baryon-to-meson-ratio enhancement is more pronounced for larger relative distance from the jet axis.We argue that the experimental confirmation of the enhancement of jet-induced baryon-to-meson ratios around the jets will provide an unambiguous evidence for the medium response to jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions.

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arXiv2022

Jet shape and redistribution of the lost energy from jets in Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC in a multiphase transport model

Jet-medium interaction involves two important effects: jet energy loss and medium response. The search for jet-induced medium excitations is one of the hot topics in jet quenching study in relativistic nuclear collisions. In this work, we perform a systematic study on how the lost energy from hard jets evolves with the bulk medium and redistributes in the final state of heavy-ion collisions via a multi-phase transport model. In particular, the ($Δη, Δϕ$) distribution of charged particles with respect to the jet axis and jet shape function are studied for various Pb+Pb collision centralities and for different transverse momentum intervals of charged particles. Our numerical result shows a strong enhancement of soft particles at large angles for Pb+Pb collisions relative to p+p collisions at the LHC, qualitatively consistent with recent CMS data. This indicates that a significant fraction of the lost energy from hard jets is carried by soft particles at large angles away from the jet axis.

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arXiv2022

Extracting the jet transport coefficient from hadron suppressions by confronting current NLO parton fragmentation functions

Nuclear modification factors of single hadrons and dihadrons at large transverse momentum ($p_{\rm T}$) in high-energy heavy-ion collisions are studied in a next-to-leading-order (NLO) perturbative QCD parton model. Parton fragmentation functions (FFs) in $A+A$ collisions are modified due to jet energy loss which is proportional to the jet transport coefficient $\hat{q}$ characterizing the interaction between the parton jet and the produced medium. By confronting 6 current sets of NLO parton FFs for large $p_{\rm T}$ hadron productions, we extract $\hat{q}$ quantitatively via a global fit to data for both single hadron and dihadron suppressions, and obtain $\hat{q}/T^3 = 4.74 - 6.72$ at $T = 370$ MeV in central $Au+Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=200$ GeV, and $\hat{q}/T^3 = 3.07 - 3.98$ at $T = 480$ MeV in central $Pb+Pb$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ TeV. The numerical results show that the uncertainties for $\hat{q}$ extraction are brought by the different contributions of gluon-to-hadron in the 6 sets of FFs due to gluon energy loss being $9/4$ times of quark energy loss.

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arXiv2021

$γ$-hadron spectra in p + Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV

Under the assumption that a quark-gluon plasma droplet is produced and its evolution can be described by hydrodynamics in p + A collisions, $γ$-triggered hadron spectra are studied within a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD parton model with the medium-modified parton fragmentation functions. The initial conditions and space-time evolution of the small QGP droplet are provided by the superSONIC hydrodynamic model simulations and parton energy loss in such a medium is described by the high-twist (HT) approach. The scaled jet transport coefficient $\hat{q}/T^3$ in this HT approach is extracted from single hadron suppression in central A + A collisions at the same colliding energy. Numerical results for this scenario show that $γ$-hadron spectra at $p_{\rm T}^γ=12-40$ GeV/$c$ are suppressed by 5\% $\sim$ 10\% in the most central 0 - 10\% p + Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=5.02$ TeV. The suppression becomes weaker at higher transverse momentum of the $γ$ trigger. As a comparison, $γ$-hadron suppression in Pb + Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=2.76$ and 5.02 TeV is also predicted.

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arXiv2020

Probing Jet Medium Interactions via $Z$($H$)+jet Momentum Imbalances

Different types of high energy hard probes are used to extract the jet transport properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma created in heavy-ion collisions, of which the heavy boson tagged jets are undoubtedly the most sophisticated due to its clean decay signature and production mechanism. In this study, we used the resummation improved pQCD approach with high order correction in the hard factor to calculate the momentum ratio $x_J$ distributions of $Z$ and Higgs($H$) tagged jets. We found that the formalism can provide a good description of the 5.02 TeV $pp$ data. Using the BDMPS energy loss formalism, along with the OSU 2+1D hydro to simulate the effect of the medium, we extracted the value of the jet transport coefficient to be around $\hat{q}_0=4\sim8~GeV^2/fm$ by comparing with the $Z$+jet $PbPb$ experimental data. The $H$+jet $x_J$ distribution were calculated in a similar manner in contrast and found to have a stronger Sudakov effect as compared with the $Z$+jet distribution. This study uses a clean color-neutral boson as trigger to study the jet quenching effect and serves as a complimentary method in the extraction of the QGP's transport coefficient in high energy nuclear collisions.

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arXiv2019

Extracting jet transport coefficient via single hadron and dihadron productions in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

We study the suppressions of high transverse momentum single hadron and dihadron productions in high-energy heavy-ion collisions based on the framework of a next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD parton model combined with the higher-twist energy loss formalism.Our model can provide a consistant description for the nuclear modification factors of single hadron and dihadron productions in central and non-central nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and the LHC energies. We quantitatively extract the value of jet quenching parameter $\hat q$ via a global $χ^2$ analysis, and obtain ${\hat{q}}/{T^3} = 4.1 \sim 4.4$ at $T = 378$~MeV at RHIC and ${\hat{q}}/{T^3} = 2.6 \sim 3.3$ at $T = 486$~MeV at the LHC, which are consistent with the results from JET Collaboration. We also provide the predictions for the nuclear modification factors of dihadron productions in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.02 TeV and in Xe+Xe collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm{NN}}}$ = 5.44 TeV.

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arXiv2018

Nuclear suppression of $ϕ$ meson yields with large $p_T$ at the RHIC and the LHC

We calculate $ϕ$ meson transverse momentum spectra in p+p collisions as well as their nuclear suppressions in central A+A collisions both at the RHIC and the LHC in LO and NLO with the QCD-improved parton model. We have included the parton energy loss effect in hot/dense QCD medium with the effectively medium-modified $ϕ$ fragmentation functions in the higher-twist approach of jet quenching. The nuclear modification factors of $ϕ$ meson in central Au+Au collisions at the RHIC and central Pb+Pb collisions at the LHC are provided, and a nice agreement of our numerical results at NLO with the ALICE measurement is observed. Predictions of yield ratios of neutral mesons such as $ϕ/π^0$, $ϕ/η$ and $ϕ/ρ^0$ at large $p_T$ in relativistic heavy-ion collisions are also presented for the first time.

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arXiv2018

Overall momentum balance and redistribution of the lost energy in asymmetric dijet events in 2.76~ATeV Pb-Pb collisions with a multi-phase transport model

The overall transverse momentum balance and the redistribution of the lost energy from hard jets for asymmetric dijet events in PbPb collisions at 2.76~ATeV at the LHC is studied within A Multi-Phase Transport (AMPT) model. A detailed analysis is performed for the projected transverse momentum $\langle \slashed{p}_{T}^{||} \rangle$ contributed from the final charged hadrons carrying different transverse momenta and emitted from different angular directions. We find that the transverse momentum projection $\langle \slashed{p}_{T}^{||} \rangle $ in the leading jet direction is mainly contributed by hard hadrons ($p_T > 8.0$~GeV/$c$) in both peripheral and central PbPb collisions, while the opposite direction in central collisions is dominated by soft hadrons ($p_T = 0.5$-$2.0$~GeV/$c$). The study of in-cone and out-of-cone contributions to $\langle \slashed{p}_{T}^{||} \rangle$ shows that these soft hadrons are mostly emitted at large angles away from the dijet axis. Our AMPT calculation is in qualitative agreement with the CMS measurements and the primary mechanism for the energy transported to large angles in the AMPT model is the elastic scattering at the partonic stage. Future studies including also inelastic processes should be helpful in understanding the overestimation of the magnitudes of in-cone and out-of-cone imbalances from our AMPT calculations, and shed light on different roles played by radiative and collisional processes in the redistribution of the lost energy from hard jets.

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arXiv2018

Study of Isolated-photon and Jet Momentum Imbalance in $pp$ and $PbPb$ collisions

In this paper, we study the production of isolated-photon plus a jet in $pp$ and $PbPb$ collisions, which can be used as an important probe to the jet transport property in quark gluon plasma created in heavy ion collisions. Normally, there are two types of observables associated with the production of isolated-photon plus a jet, namely, the azimuthal angular correlation and the transverse momentum imbalance. To understand both observables in the full kinematical region, we need to employ the perturbative QCD calculation, which takes into account the hard splitting of partons, together with the Sudakov resummation formalism, which resums soft gluon splittings. Furthermore, by introducing energy-loss into the system, we calculate the enhancement of the momentum imbalance distribution for $AA$ as compared to $pp$ collisions and make predictions for future unfolded experimental data. In addition, in order to extract the jet transport coefficient more precisely in our numerical calculation, we also distinguish quark jets from gluon jets, since they interact with quark gluon plasma with different strengths. This work provides a reliable theoretical tool for the calculation of the gamma-jet correlation, which can lead us to a more precise extraction of the jet transport coefficient in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

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