NLO JIMWLK evolution with massive quarks

Abstract

NLO evolution of the Jalilian-Marian-Iancu-McLerran-Weigert-Leonidov-Kovner (JIMWLK) equation with massless quarks was derived a few years ago. We make a step further to compute the evolution kernels focusing on the effects due to finite quark masses. To this goal, the light-cone wave function of a fast moving dilute hadronic projectile is computed up to $\mathcal{O}(g^3)$ in QCD coupling constant. Compared with the massless case, a new IR divergence emerges, which is eventually canceled by a mass dependent counter term. Our results extend the theoretical tools used in physics of gluon saturation and aim at improving precision in future phenomenological applications.

Comments: 36 pages, 5 figures