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Quarks and leptons: introductory course in modern particle physics

Francis Halzen, Alan D. Martin

Chapter 10

Quantum Chromodynamics - all with Video Answers

Educators


Chapter Questions

03:59

Problem 1

Derive (10.3)-(10.5). It is easiest to work in the laboratory frame; the variables are given in Section 6.8. In the deep inelastic limit, the electron beam energy $E \gg E^{\prime}$. Then, as $\nu^2 \sim E^2$ and $Q^2 \simeq$ $4 E E^{\prime} \sin ^2(\theta / 2)$, we have $\nu^2 \gg Q^2$. We also have introduced the $\gamma^*$-proton center-of-mass energy squared:
$$
s=(q+p)^2=M^2+2 M \nu-Q^2 \simeq 2 M K,
$$
where $K$ is associated with the $\gamma^*$-flux factor of (8.48).

Ajay Singhal
Ajay Singhal
Numerade Educator

Problem 2

Show that the parton model diagram, Fig. 10.1, gives
$$
\begin{aligned}
& \frac{\hat{\sigma}_T}{\hat{\sigma}_0}\left(z, Q^2\right)=e_i^2 \delta(1-z) \\
& \hat{\sigma}_L\left(z, Q^2\right)=0 .
\end{aligned}
$$

We outline the various stages of the calculation. First, show that for $\gamma^*(q) \mathrm{q}(p) \rightarrow \mathrm{q}\left(p^{\prime}\right)$
$$
\overline{|\mathscr{\Re}|^2}=2 e_i^2 e^2 p \cdot q,
$$
where we have averaged over transverse polarization states of the incoming $\gamma^*$. From Section 4.3, we have
$$
F d \dot{\sigma}_T=\overline{|\mathscr{T}|^2}(2 \pi)^4 \delta^{(4)}\left(p^{\prime}-p-q\right) \frac{d^3 p^{\prime}}{2 p_0^{\prime}(2 \pi)^3} .
$$
where $F$ is the $\gamma^* \mathrm{q}$ flux factor. Calculate $F \hat{\sigma}_T$ by making use of (6.47). Use $F \hat{\sigma}_0=8 \pi^2 \alpha$, see $(10.5)$.

To determine the parton model prediction for $F_2 / x$ of (10.4), we input in (10.8) the following cross section ratio for $\gamma^* \mathrm{q} \rightarrow \mathrm{q}$ :
$$
\frac{1}{\hat{\sigma}_0}\left(\hat{\sigma}_T+\hat{\sigma}_L\right)=e_i^2 \delta(1-z) \text {, }
$$
see (10.10) and (10.11). After substitution, we obtain
$$
\frac{F_2\left(x, Q^2\right)}{x}=\sum_i e_i^2 \int_x^1 \frac{d y}{y} f_i(y) \delta\left(1-\frac{x}{y}\right)=\sum_i e_i^2 f_i(x) .
$$

An identical expression is found for $2 F_1$. The parton model results of (9.13) and (9.14) are indeed reproduced.

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Problem 3

In the center-of-mass frame of the parton process $\gamma^* \mathrm{q}_1 \rightarrow \mathrm{q}_2 \mathrm{~g}$ of Fig. 10.7, show that
$$
\begin{aligned}
& \hat{s}=2 k^2+2 k q_0-Q^2=4 k^{\prime 2}, \\
& \hat{t}=-Q^2-2 k^{\prime} q_0+2 k k^{\prime} \cos \theta=-2 k k^{\prime}(1-\cos \theta), \\
& \hat{u}=-2 k k^{\prime}(1+\cos \theta),
\end{aligned}
$$
where $k, k^{\prime}$ are the magnitudes of the center-of-mass momenta $\mathbf{k}, \mathbf{k}^{\prime}$. Note that for the virtual photon, $q_0^2=k^2-Q^2$. A useful result is
$$
4 k k^{\prime}=-\hat{t}-\hat{u}=\hat{s}+Q^2 \text {. }
$$

The interesting quantity is the transverse momentum of the outgoing quark, $p_T=k^{\prime} \sin \theta$. Show that
$$
p_T^2=\frac{\hat{s} \hat{t} \hat{u}}{\left(\hat{s}+Q^2\right)^2}
$$
or, in the limit of small-angle scattering, $-\hat{i} \ll \hat{s}$, that
$$
p_T^2=\frac{\hat{s}(-\hat{t})}{\hat{s}+Q^2} .
$$

Further, show that for small scattering angles ( $\cos \theta \simeq 1$ ),
$$
d \Omega=\frac{4 \pi}{s} d p_T^2 .
$$

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04:41

Problem 4

Derive (10.27). Make use of (10.26) and (10.20), together with (4.34). Show that the $\gamma^* \mathrm{q}$ flux factor is given by $2 s$ using the convention of (8.48).

On substituting (10.17) into (10.27), the $\gamma^* \mathrm{q} \rightarrow$ qg cross section becomes
$$
\frac{d \hat{\sigma}}{d p_T^2}=\frac{8 \pi e_i^2 \alpha \alpha_s}{3 \hat{s}^2}\left(\frac{1}{-\hat{t}}\right)\left[\hat{s}+\frac{2\left(\hat{s}+Q^2\right) Q^2}{\hat{s}}\right],
$$
where we have used $-\hat{t} \ll \hat{s}$. Using (10.25) and
$$
z \equiv \frac{Q^2}{2 p_i \cdot q}=\frac{Q^2}{\left(p_i+q\right)^2-q^2}=\frac{Q^2}{\hat{s}+Q^2},
$$
equation (10.28) can finally be rewritten as
$$
\frac{d \hat{\sigma}}{d p_T^2} \simeq e_i^2 \hat{\sigma}_0 \frac{1}{p_T^2} \frac{\alpha_s}{2 \pi} P_{q q}(z),
$$
where $\hat{\sigma}_0=4 \pi^2 \alpha / \hat{s}$, see (10.5), and where
$$
P_{q q}(z)=\frac{4}{3}\left(\frac{1+z^2}{1-z}\right)
$$
represents the probability of a quark emitting a gluon and so becoming a quark with momentum reduced by a fraction $z$. The $z \rightarrow 1$ singularity is associated with the emission of a "soft" massless gluon. It is an example of an infrared divergence (mentioned in Chapter 7). We explain how it is canceled by virtual gluon diagrams in Section 10.8 .

The cross section (10.30) is also singular as $p_T^2 \rightarrow 0$. Now the diagrams of Figs. 10.1 and 10.3 either do not contribute (remember that for the parton diagram the $p_T$ of the outgoing parton relative to the virtual photon always vanishes) or are negligible in comparison to $\gamma^* \mathrm{q} \rightarrow \mathrm{qg}$ in the limit $-\hat{t} \& \hat{s}$. This is the case for the pair production diagrams of Fig. 10.3. Therefore, in the region $-\hat{t} \ll \hat{s}$, (10.30) represents the full $p_T^2$ distribution of the final-state parton jets.

What is the experimental signature of this result? We refer to Fig. 10.4. The presence of gluon emission is signaled by a quark jet and gluon jet in the final
state, neither of which is moving along the direction of the virtual photon. The transverse momentum $p_T$ of the jet or of the bremsstrahlung hadrons contained in this jet (see Chapter 1) is nonzero; in fact, we expect the $p_T$ distribution to be given by $(10.30)$. It has to be embedded into the electron-proton system, using (10.8), exactly as was done for the parton cross section in Section 10.3. Figure 10.8 shows the result of comparing such a calculation with data.

Several remarks about this comparison are in order. The calculation shown in Fig. 10.8 actually includes all diagrams in Figs. 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3, and the limit $(-\hat{t}) \& s$ was not made. Moreover, one has to model the way a quark or gluon fragments into hadrons or, alternatively, one can infer this information from a different experiment. How this is done is explained in the next chapter. What is important is the qualitative observation that hadrons emerge with $p_T \neq 0$ signaling the presence of gluon emission. In a parton model without gluons, all final-state jets would be collinear with the virtual photon. Their hadron fragments will therefore be nearly collinear with the photon, too, that is, with a spread of $p_T$ of about $300 \mathrm{MeV}$ as required by the uncertainty principle for confined quarks. This prediction is represented by the dashed line in Fig. 10.8. The data clearly establish an excess of large $p_T$ hadrons which are the fragments of the quark and gluon jets recoiling against one another.

This "Rutherford experiment of QCD" can be repeated in many disguises such as $\mathrm{e}^{+} \mathrm{e}^{-} \rightarrow$ hadrons or pp $\rightarrow$ large $p_T$ hadrons (see Chapter 1 ). The ideas and computational techniques are very similar to the example discussed here. Finally, the large $Q^2$ of the photon guarantees that we are dealing with a short-distance

Keshav Singh
Keshav Singh
Numerade Educator

Problem 5

Show that the maximal transverse momentum for the two-body interaction $\gamma^* \mathrm{q} \rightarrow \mathrm{qg}$ is given by
$$
\left(p_T^2\right)_{\max }=\frac{s}{4}=Q^2 \frac{1-z}{4 z} .
$$

In deriving (10.32), we integrated up to the maximum $p_T$ of the gluon and then used $(10.33)$ to write $\log (\hat{s} / 4) \simeq \log Q^2$ in the large $Q^2$ limit. The lower limit $\mu$ on the transverse momentum is introduced as a cutoff to regularize the divergence when $p_T^2 \rightarrow 0$.

Adding $\hat{\sigma}\left(\gamma^* \mathrm{q} \rightarrow \mathrm{qg}\right)$ to the parton model cross section, (10.14), we find QCD modifies (10.15) to
$$
\text { where we have introduced the notation that the quark structure function } q(y) \equiv
$$

$f_q(y)$. The presence of the $\log Q^2$ factor means that the parton model scaling prediction for the structure functions should be violated. That is, in QCD, $F_2$ is a function of $Q^2$ as well as of $x$, but the variation with $Q^2$ is only logarithmic. The violation of Bjorken scaling is a signature of gluon emission.

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Problem 6

Study the origin of the $\log Q^2$ term. Recall that the $\gamma^* \mathrm{q} \rightarrow \mathrm{qg}$ cross section, $d \hat{\sigma} / d p_T^2$, is dominated by the forward peak. The $t$-channel quark propagator leads to a factor $1 / p_T^4$. Show that helicity conservation at the gluon vertex weakens this singularity by introducing a factor $p_T^2$ in the numerator.

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Problem 7

The origin of the scaling violation of $q\left(x, Q^2\right)$ given by (10.37) can be traced back to (10.32). There, we assumed that $\alpha_s$ is a constant. Show that $(10.37)$ is also obtained for a running coupling constant. Assume that $\alpha_s$ in (10.32) is $\alpha_s\left(p_T^2\right)$ as given by (7.65).

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02:19

Problem 8

Show that the color factor for $\gamma^* \mathrm{~g} \rightarrow \mathrm{q} \overline{\mathrm{q}}$ is $\frac{1}{2}$.

Narayan Hari
Narayan Hari
Numerade Educator

Problem 9

Verify that for $\gamma^* \mathrm{~g} \rightarrow \mathrm{q} \overline{\mathrm{q}}$,
$$
\overline{|\vartheta R|^2}=32 \pi^2\left(e_q^2 \alpha \alpha_s\right) \frac{1}{2}\left(\frac{\hat{u}}{\hat{t}}+\frac{\hat{t}}{\hat{u}}-\frac{2 \hat{s} Q^2}{\hat{t} \hat{u}}\right) \text {, }
$$
using $\sum \varepsilon_\mu^* \varepsilon_\nu=-g_{\mu \nu}$ for the $\gamma^*$-polarization sum. Hence, show that (10.34) for the proton structure function contains the additional contributionwhere $g(y)$ is the gluon density in the proton and where
$$
P_{q g}(z)=\frac{1}{2}\left(z^2+(1-z)^2\right)
$$
represents the probability that a gluon annihilates into a $q \bar{q} \bar{q}$ pair such that the quark has a fraction $z$ of its momentum. Detailed measurements of the scaling violations of $F_2\left(x, Q^2\right)$ probe the gluon distribution inside the proton through $(10,40)$.

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11:08

Problem 10

How would you set about verifying that
$$
\begin{aligned}
& P_{R q}(z)=\frac{4}{3} \frac{1+(1-z)^2}{z}, \\
& P_{R g}(z)=6\left(\frac{1-z}{z}+\frac{z}{1-z}+z(1-z)\right) ?
\end{aligned}
$$

Matthew Winsor
Matthew Winsor
Numerade Educator
00:45

Problem 11

Express (10.42) in symbolic form.

Julie Silva
Julie Silva
Numerade Educator
02:23

Problem 12

Obtain the evolution equations for the combinations
$$
\begin{aligned}
q_{N S} & \equiv q_t-q_J \\
q_S & \equiv \sum_t q_i .
\end{aligned}
$$

The subscripts are conventional and, in fact, are used to indicate that the combinations refer to nonsinglet and singlet combinations of the quark flavor group.

Daniel Sneed
Daniel Sneed
Numerade Educator

Problem 13

Use (10.51) and (10.52) to show that
$$
P_{q q}(z)=\frac{4}{3} \frac{1+z^2}{(1-z)_{+}}+2 \delta(1-z) .
$$

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Problem 14

Use momentum conservation to justify
$$
\int_0^1 d z z\left(q_S\left(z, Q^2\right)+g\left(z, Q^2\right)\right)=1 .
$$

Hence, determine the $\delta(1-z)$ term in $P_{g g}$ and verify
$$
P_{g g}(z)=6\left(\frac{1-z}{z}+\frac{z}{(1-z)_{+}}+z(1-z)\right)+\left(\frac{11}{2}-\frac{n_f}{3}\right) \delta(1-z),
$$
where $n_f$ is the number of quark flavors.

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01:45

Problem 15

Show that momentum conservation at the QCD vertex requires (for $z<1$ )
$$
\begin{aligned}
& P_{q q}(z)=P_{g q}(1-z), \\
& P_{q g}(z)=P_{q g}(1-z), \\
& P_{g g}(z)=P_{g g}(1-z) .
\end{aligned}
$$

Check that the explicit formulas for the "splitting" functions satisfy these relations.

Suzanne W.
Suzanne W.
Numerade Educator

Problem 16

If $\alpha_s\left(Q^2\right)=c / \log Q^2$, show that (10.37) leads to
$$
\frac{\int x^{n-1} q\left(x, Q^2\right) d x}{\int x^{n-1} q\left(x, Q_0^2\right) d x}=\left(\frac{\log Q^2}{\log Q_0^2}\right)^{A_n},
$$
where
$$
\begin{aligned}
A_n & =\frac{c}{2 \pi} \int_0^1 x^{n-1} P_{q q}(x) d x \\
& =\frac{c}{2 \pi} \frac{4}{3}\left(-\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}{n(n+1)}-2 \sum_{j=2}^n \frac{1}{j}\right) .
\end{aligned}
$$

That is, in QCD, the moments ( $n \geq 1$ ) of the quark structure functions decrease as calculable powers of $\log Q^2 \cdot c$ is given by (7.65).

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