Understanding the behavior of large atomic nuclei (heavy ions) in high-energy collisions has been the focus of a concerted research effort over the past 10-15 years. Much of the latest progress in the field has centered around transverse momentum-dependent (or "unintegrated") parton distributions: in particular the prediction of the high-energy behavior of these distributions, in the form of the Balitsky-JIMWLK equations, and the development of the hybrid factorization framework, which connects the unintegrated parton distributions to predictions for experimentally measured cross sections. With the advent of high-energy proton-nucleus collisions at RHIC and the LHC, we are able to experimentally test these predictions for the first time. In this dissertation, I show two case studies of these predictions, to illustrate the use of the hybrid factorization at leading and next-to-leading order.First, as a simple example, I analyze the azimuthal angular correlation for a Drell-Yan process, the production of a lepton pair with an associated hadron. The correlation for back-to-back emission turns out to be determined by the low-momentum region of the unintegrated gluon distribution, and the correlation for parallel emission is determined by the high-momentum region. Accordingly, a proper prediction of the correlation at all angles requires a gluon distribution with physically realistic behavior at both high and low momenta. Furthermore, the properties of the central double peak that emerges in Drell-Yan production can provide some insight into the form of the gluon distribution.I'll then describe a numerical calculation of the cross section for inclusive hadron production, which incorporates all corrections up to next-to-leading order in the strong coupling. This calculation illustrates several obstacles presented by subleading terms, including the removal of divergences by renormalizing the integrated and unintegrated parton distributions. The results of the calculation are negative at high transverse momentum, which is surprising but may be mathematically reasonable, since the perturbative approximation to the cross section may break down under those kinematic conditions. However, it may be possible to make meaningful predictions for the nuclear modification ratio R_pA despite the negative cross section.Moving beyond next-to-leading order, it may be possible to cure the negativity of the inclusive hadron cross section by altering the formulas used. I'll show two possible methods of doing so: first, a straightforward resummation of selected higher-order terms corresponding to gluon loop diagrams is able to mitigate the negativity, though it requires some alterations of unclear theoretical origin. A more promising alternative seems to be use of exact kinematic definitions, incorporating terms which disappear in the infinite-energy limit; this constrains the kinematics to eliminate the region of phase space which most strongly contributes to the negativity. In this way, the calculation can be adapted to produce reasonable results at high transverse momentum.

I review the subject of hadron-nucleus collisions at energies where peturbative theory is applicable. Reactions studied experimentally at the Fermilab Tevatron and CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron include the Drell-Yan Process, direct photon production, quarkonium production, and open charm production. I conclude with an observation about a new era of proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus experiments which will be carried out at the hadron colliders, RHIC and LHC.

The Conference OC Bologna 2000: Structure of the Nucleus at the Dawn of the CenturyOCO was devoted to a discipline which has seen a strong revival of research activities in the last decade. New experimental results and theoretical developments in nuclear physics will certainly make important contributions to our knowledge and understanding of Nature's fundamental building blocks. The interest aroused by the Conference among the scientific community was clearly reflected in the large number of participants. These represented the most important nuclear physics laboratories in the world. The Conference covered five major topics of modern nuclear physics: nuclear structure, nucleus-nucleus collisions, hadron dynamics, nuclear astrophysics, and transdisciplinary and peaceful applications of nuclear science. It reviewed recent progress in the field and provided a forum for the discussion of current and future research projects. Contents: Many-Body Methods in Nuclear Structure; Hadron Dynamics: Strange Hadro-Dynamics; Mesons, Baryons, Antibaryons; Hadron Structure and Electromagnetic Probes; Nuclear Astrophysics: Theoretical Aspects of Nuclear Astrophysics; Experimental Aspects of Nuclear Astrophysics; Applications of Nuclear Physics: Fission, Spallation and Transmutation; Other Applications of Nuclear Physics. Readership: Nuclear physicists."

This book contains proceedings of the 7-week INT program dedicated to the physics of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), the world's first polarized electron-nucleon (ep) and electron-nucleus (eA) collider to be constructed in the United States. The 2015 NSAC Long Range Plan recommended EIC as the 'highest priority for new facility construction following the completion of FRIB'. The primary goal of the EIC is to establish precise multi-dimensional imaging of quarks and gluons inside nucleons and nuclei. This includes (i) understanding the spatial and momentum space structure of the nucleon through the studies of TMDs (transverse-momentum-dependent parton distributions), GPD (generalized parton distributions) and the Wigner distribution; (ii) determining the partonic origin of the nucleon spin; (iii) exploring the new quantum chromodynamics (QCD) frontier of ultra-strong gluon fields, with the potential to seal the discovery of a new form of dense gluon matter predicted to exist in all nuclei and nucleons at small Bjorken x — the parton saturation.The program brought together both theorists and experimentalists from Jefferson Lab (JLab), Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) along with the national and international nuclear physics communities to assess and advance the EIC physics.

Dramatic progress has been made in all branches of physics since the National Research Council's 1986 decadal survey of the field. The Physics in a New Era series explores these advances and looks ahead to future goals. The series includes assessments of the major subfields and reports on several smaller subfields, and preparation has begun on an overview volume on the unity of physics, its relationships to other fields, and its contributions to national needs. Nuclear Physics is the latest volume of the series. The book describes current activity in understanding nuclear structure and symmetries, the behavior of matter at extreme densities, the role of nuclear physics in astrophysics and cosmology, and the instrumentation and facilities used by the field. It makes recommendations on the resources needed for experimental and theoretical advances in the coming decade.

Articles focus on the planned European proton-proton collider, and concentrate on physics issues, rather than the more technical concerns addressed in the three previous workshops. The use of energies much higher than those of the American Superconducting Super Collider is featured. Topics include reviews of current projects, hadron collisions, lep

Understanding of protons and neutrons, or "nucleons"â€"the building blocks of atomic nucleiâ€"has advanced dramatically, both theoretically and experimentally, in the past half century. A central goal of modern nuclear physics is to understand the structure of the proton and neutron directly from the dynamics of their quarks and gluons governed by the theory of their interactions, quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and how nuclear interactions between protons and neutrons emerge from these dynamics. With deeper understanding of the quark-gluon structure of matter, scientists are poised to reach a deeper picture of these building blocks, and atomic nuclei themselves, as collective many-body systems with new emergent behavior. The development of a U.S. domestic electron-ion collider (EIC) facility has the potential to answer questions that are central to completing an understanding of atoms and integral to the agenda of nuclear physics today. This study assesses the merits and significance of the science that could be addressed by an EIC, and its importance to nuclear physics in particular and to the physical sciences in general. It evaluates the significance of the science that would be enabled by the construction of an EIC, its benefits to U.S. leadership in nuclear physics, and the benefits to other fields of science of a U.S.-based EIC.