Forward di-jet production in p+Pb collisions in the small-x improved TMD factorization framework

Understand

We study the production of forward di-jets in proton-lead and proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider.

• Such configurations, with both jets produced in the forward direction, impose a dilute-dense asymmetry which allows to probe the gluon density of the lead or proton target at small longitudinal momentum fractions.
• Even though the jet momenta are always much bigger than the saturation scale of the target, $Q_s$, the transverse momentum imbalance of the di-jet system may be either also much larger than $Q_s$, or of the order $Q_s$, implying that the small-$x$ QCD dynamics involved is either linear or non-linear, respectively.
• The small-$x$ improved TMD factorization framework deals with both situation in the same formalism.