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dc.contributor.advisorStewart, Iain W.
dc.contributor.authorGao, Anjie
dc.date.accessioned2026-01-12T19:40:31Z
dc.date.available2026-01-12T19:40:31Z
dc.date.issued2025-09
dc.date.submitted2025-08-15T21:06:49.901Z
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/164497
dc.description.abstractThis thesis explores the fundamental kinematic limits of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), including the soft, collinear, and Regge limits, using soft-collinear effective theory (SCET). We begin by studying transverse momentum dependent (TMD) physics in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering (SIDIS), which probes the small transverse momentum regime arising from the soft and collinear limits of QCD. We derive all-order factorization theorems for azimuthal asymmetries in SIDIS at next-to-leading power (NLP). We also propose a new angular observable, q_∗, for probing TMD dynamics at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), which enables an order-of-magnitude improvement in experimental resolution while retaining sensitivity to TMD distributions. Next, we apply the TMD formalism to a class of observables known as energy correlators. We study the transverse energy-energy correlator (TEEC) in the back-to-back limit, a dijet observable at hadron colliders, and the three-point energy correlator (EEEC) in the coplanar limit, a trijet observable at lepton colliders. For both observables, we derive allorder factorization theorems and resum large logarithms to next-to-next-to-next-to-leading logarithmic (N3LL) accuracy. Finally, we analyze the Regge limit of 2 → 2 QCD amplitudes. By factorizing these amplitudes into collinear jet and soft functions and studying their rapidity evolution, we define Regge-like anomalous dimensions in a gauge-invariant manner. At the level of the exchange of two Glauber gluons in the t-channel, we recover the BFKL equation from a purely collinear perspective. Extending to three-Glauber exchange, we derive the first closed-form renormalization group equations for Regge cut contributions in several nontrivial t-channel color representations, providing a systematic method for organizing non-planar QCD amplitudes at high energy.
dc.publisherMassachusetts Institute of Technology
dc.rightsIn Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
dc.rightsCopyright retained by author(s)
dc.rights.urihttps://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/
dc.titleLimits of QCD
dc.typeThesis
dc.description.degreePh.D.
dc.contributor.departmentMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
mit.thesis.degreeDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy


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