First calculation of $\hat{q}$ on a quenched SU(3) plasma

Abstract

The jet transport coefficient $\hat{q}$ is the leading transport coefficient that controls the modification of hard jets produced in heavy-ion collisions. This coefficient is inherently non-perturbative, and hence, is challenging to compute from first principles. In this report, we present a perturbative quantum chromodynamics (pQCD) and lattice gauge theory based formulation to study $\hat{q}$. We formulate $\hat{q}$ within a 4-dimensional (4D) quenched SU(3) lattice. We consider a leading order diagram for a hard parton passing through the quark-gluon plasma. The non-perturbative part is expressed in terms of a non-local (two-point) Field-Strength-Field-Strength (FF) operator product which can be Taylor expanded after analytic continuation to the Euclidean region. Such an expansion allows us to write $\hat{q}$ in terms of the expectation of local operators. Finally, we present our results for $\hat{q}$ in a pure gluon plasma.