Diffractive hadron production in DIS off heavy nuclei and gluon saturation

Abstract

We calculate the cross section for diffractive hadron production in deep inelastic scattering off heavy nuclei in the framework of gluon saturation/color glass condensate. We analyze the kinematic region of the future Electron-Ion Collider. We argue that coherent and incoherent diffractive channels are very sensitive to the structure of the nuclear matter at low $x$. This expresses itself in a characteristic dependence of the cross sections on rapidity and transverse momentum of the produced hadron and on the nuclear weight. We also discuss dependence on the scattering angle and argue that both coherent and incoherent cross sections may be within experimental reach at EIC.

Comments: 13 pages; v2: discussion extended, new references added