Computing quark and gluon distribution functions for very large nuclei

Abstract

We argue that the distribution functions for quarks and gluons are computable at small $x$ for sufficiently large nuclei, perhaps larger than can be physically realized. For such nuclei, we argue that weak coupling methods may be used. We show that the computation of the distribution functions can be recast as a many-body problem with a modified propagator, a coupling constant which depends on the multiplicity of particles per unit rapidity per unit area, and for non-Abelian gauge theories, some extra media-dependent vertices. We explicitly compute the distribution function for gluons to lowest order, and argue how they may be computed in higher order.