Minijet thermalization and jet transport coefficients in QCD kinetic theory

We apply weakly coupled QCD kinetic theory to investigate the thermalization of high-momentum on-shell partons (minijets) in a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). Our approach incorporates isotropic hard thermal loop screening to model soft quark and gluon exchanges, allowing us to verify consistency with est...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Boguslavski, Kirill (Author) , Lindenbauer, Florian (Author) , Mazeliauskas, Aleksas (Author) , Takacs, Adam (Author) , Zhou, Fabian (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 11 May 2026
In: Journal of high energy physics
Year: 2026, Issue: 5, Pages: 1-35
ISSN:1029-8479
DOI:10.1007/JHEP05(2026)093
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP05(2026)093
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Author Notes:Kirill Boguslavski, Florian Lindenbauer, Aleksas Mazeliauskas, Adam Takacs and Fabian Zhou
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Summary:We apply weakly coupled QCD kinetic theory to investigate the thermalization of high-momentum on-shell partons (minijets) in a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). Our approach incorporates isotropic hard thermal loop screening to model soft quark and gluon exchanges, allowing us to verify consistency with established analytic results of jet transport coefficients. We perform kinetic simulations of minijets propagating through a thermal gluon plasma, incorporating both collinear radiation and elastic scatterings. The resulting evolution is compared to predictions from jet transport coefficients, including the longitudinal and transverse jet-quenching parameters $$ \hat{q} $$, energy loss, and the drag coefficient. We find that standard definitions of jet transport coefficients neglect the contributions from recoiling medium particles. Including these contributions restores consistency with the kinetic evolution. Finally, we show that the minijet thermalization time scales remarkably well with $$ \hat{q} $$and we produce a phenomenological estimate of the minijet quenching time in heavy-ion collisions.
Item Description:Gesehen am 08.07.2026
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1029-8479
DOI:10.1007/JHEP05(2026)093