Initial Gluon Multiplicity in Heavy-Ion Collisions

The initial gluon multiplicity per unit area per unit rapidity, dN/L2/d eta, in high energy nuclear collisions, is equal to f(N)(g(2)mu L) (g(2)mu)(2)/g(2), with mu(2) proportional to the gluon density per unit area of the colliding nuclei. For an SU(2) gauge theory, we compute f(N)(g(2)mu L) = 0.14 +/- 0.01 for a wide range in g(2)mu L. Extrapolating to SU(3), we predict dN/L2/d eta for values of g(2)mu L relevant to the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider. We compute the initial gluon transverse momentum distribution, dN/L2/d(2)k( perpendicular), and show it to be well behaved at low k( perpendicular).