Princeton University High Energy Theory Seminar

Abstract:  I will talk about light-ray operators in QFTs, particularly in the critical O(N) model, focusing on the leading-twist and horizontal Regge trajectories. Conceptually, I will distinguish between light-ray operators in two conformal frames, defining detectors to characterize event shapes and distributions to probe initial-state properties. This bridges the language to perturbative QCD, including parton distribution functions and collinear functions. I will discuss the renormalization of detector operators, resolving the mixing between the leading-twist operator and its shadow to obtain the Regge intercept. In addition, I will also discuss the renormalization of horizontal detectors and distributions.