Recently Beccattini and Cleymamns have proposed a model to understand the p-pbar data obtained at RHIC and SPS. We have shown that this model has a much greater applicability and can very well be used to describe the rapidity spectra of protons and antiprotons separately measured at the highest energy of Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider i.e., 200 GeV/A by BRAHMS Collaboration. We have also determined that the contribution of the decay products of the heavier resonances like delta, lambda etc. actually dominate over the protons (antiprotons) of pure thermal origin. We have also imposed the criteria of exact strangeness conservation in each fireball separately. It is shown that it is possible to explain not only the p-pbar data but the complete set of data viz. the rapidity distributions of protons, antiprotons and the ratio pbar/p simultaneously quite well with a single set of model parameters which includes a single value of the temperature parameter T chosen for all the fireballs. We have also fitted the Kaon rapidity spectra obtained by BRAHMS collaboration in the same experiment. This is unlike the previous analyses wherein a varying temperature has been assumed for the fireballs formed along the rapidity axis. The chemical potentials are however assumed to be dependent on the fireball rapidity yfb.
We revisit the issue of the RHIC ``fireball'' as a dual black hole, and explain some of the details. We discuss the nature of the (black hole) information paradox as a purely field theory (gauge theory) phenomenon and how the paradox can be formulated in exactly the same way for the RHIC fireball and a black hole. We stress the differences between the black holes produced in the gravity dual and the equilibrium situation of the Witten construction for finite temperature AdS-CFT. We analyze the thermodynamics of the fireball, give more arguments why $T_{fireball}\propto m_π$, including an effec…
We argue that the fireball observed at RHIC is (the analog of) a dual black hole. In previous works, we have argued that the large $s$ behaviour of the total QCD cross section is due to production of dual black holes, and that in the QCD effective field theory it corresponds to a nonlinear soliton of the pion field. Now we argue that the RHIC fireball is this soliton. We calculate the soliton (black hole) temperature, and get $T=4a <m_π>/π$, with $a$ a nonperturbative constant. For $a=1$, we get $175.76 MeV$, compared to the experimental value of the fireball ``freeze-out'' of about $176 MeV$.…
We explore the centrality dependence of properties of the dense hadronic matter created in \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV Au--Au collisions at RHIC. Using the statistical hadronization model we fit particle yields known for 11 centrality bins. We present the resulting model parameters, rapidity yields of physical quantities and the physical properties of bulk matter at hadronization as function of centrality. We discuss the production of strangeness and entropy.
We consider a holographic dual of hydrodynamics of N=4 SYM plasma that undergoes non-isotropic three-dimensional expansion relevant to RHIC fireball. Our model is a natural extension of the Bjorken's one-dimensional expansion, and it describes an elliptic flow whose v2 and eccentricity are given in terms of anisotropy parameters. Holographic renormalization shows that absence of conformal anomaly in the SYM theory constrains our local rest frame to be a Kasner spacetime. We show that the Kasner spcetime provides a simple description of the anisotropically expanding fluid within a well-controle…
We attempt to describe the rapidity and transverse momentum spectra of strange as well as non-strange hadrons e.g. cascade,cascadebar, lambda , lambdabar, proton, protonbar,(omega+omegabar, Kaon, anti-Kaon and their ratios in the ultra-relativistic collisions of gold nuclei at (Root sNN)=200 GeV. This is done by using a statistical thermal freeze-out model which incorporates the rapidity (collision) axis as well as transverse direction boosts developed within an expanding hot and dense hadronic fluid (fireball) till the final freeze-out. We determine the thermo-chemical freeze-out conditions p…
We study, in the dynamically evolving QGP fireball formed in relativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC, the growth of strangeness yield toward and beyond the chemical equilibrium. We account for the contribution of the direct strangeness production and evaluate the thermal-QCD strangeness production mechanisms. The specific yield of strangeness per entropy, s/S, is the primary target variable. We explore the effect of collision impact parameter, i.e., fireball size, on kinetic strangeness chemical equilibration in QGP. Insights gained in study the RHIC data with regard to the dynamics …
In the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence we discuss the gravity dual of a heavy-ion-like collision in a variant of ${\cal N}=4$ SYM. We provide a gravity dual picture of the entire process using a model where the scattering process creates initially a holographic shower in bulk AdS. The subsequent gravitational fall leads to a moving black hole that is gravity dual to the expanding and cooling heavy-ion fireball. The front of the fireball cools at the rate of $1/τ$, while the core cools as $1/\sqrtτ$ from a cosmological-like argument. The cooling is faster than Bjorken cooling. The firebal…
The experimental data on hadron yields and ratios in central Pb+Pb and Au+Au collisions at SPS and RHIC energies, respectively, are analysed within a two-source statistical model of an ideal hadron gas. These two sources represent the expanding system of colliding heavy ions, where the hot central fireball is embedded in a larger but cooler fireball. The volume of the central source increases with rising bombarding energy. Results of the two-source model fit to RHIC experimental data at midrapidity coincide with the results of the one-source thermal model fit, indicating the formation of an ex…
We show that the QCD color transparency of higher-twist contributions to inclusive hadroproduction cross sections, where baryons are produced directly in a short-distance subprocess, can explain several remarkable features of high-$p_T$ baryon production in heavy ion collisions which have recently been observed at RHIC: (a) the anomalous increase of the proton-to-pion ratio with centrality (b): the increased power-law fall-off at fixed $x_T=2p_T/ \sqrt s$ of the charged particle production cross section in high centrality nuclear collisions, and (c): the anomalous decrease of the number of sam…
A thermodynamically consistent excluded volume model is proposed to account for the particle multiplicities obtained from lowest SIS energies to the highest RHIC energies. The chemical freeze-out volumes lying in a slice of one unit of rapidity for pions and kaons are separately inferred from this analysis and the results are compared with the corresponding thermal freeze-out volumes obtained from the Hanbury-Brown Twiss (HBT) pion interferometry. Furthermore, we extract the variations of freeze-out number densities for pions and nucleons with the center-of-mass energy in our model and compare…
The decay of fireballs containing the disoriented chiral condensate (DCC) in A+A collisions has been analyzed. We found that the high phase-space density and probably the large final fireball volume are the favorable factors to extract a DCC signal from the thermal background. Both of these factors are expected to take place at RHIC and LHC energies. A coherent pion component then can be observed in pion spectra, in Bose-Einstein correlations and in distribution of the ratio of neutral to total pions.
We solve analytically the ellipsoidally expanding fireball hydrodynamics with source terms in the momentum and the energy equations, using the non-relativistic approximation. We find that energy transport from high pt jets of gluons to the medium leads to a transient, exponential inflation of the fireballs created in high energy heavy ion collisions. In this transient, inflatory period, the slopes of the single particle spectra increase, while the HBT radius parameters decrease exponentially with time. This effect is shown to be similar to the development of the homogeneity of our Universe due…
Integrated and differential $J/ψ R_{AA}$ are systematically studied in Au-Au collisions at RHIC-BES energies in a transport approach, including cold and hot nuclear effects respectively in the initial condition and the collision terms. With decreasing energy, while the temperature, life time and size of the QGP fireball decrease, the nuclear absorption of the initially produced charmonia is more and more strong, and the nuclear shadowing effect on charmonium regeneration goes to anti-shadowing first and then to shadowing again. As a competition between the cold and hot nuclear effects, the QGP…
We study elliptic and triangular flow in the collisions of deuteron-gold nuclei at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 200$ GeV at RHIC and of proton-lead nuclei at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 5.02$ TeV at the LHC, utilizing (3+1)-dimensional ideal hydrodynamics for the dynamic evolution of the fireball and a Glauber-based Monte-Carlo energy deposition model for simulating the fluctuating initial conditions. Sizable values of elliptic and triangular flow are obtained for both colliding systems, and the results are consistent with PHENIX, ALICE, ATLAS and CMS measurements. For these studied centralities, we find tha…
The agreement of elliptic flow data at RHIC at central rapidity with the hydrodynamic model has led to the conclusion of very rapid thermalization. This conclusion is based on the intuitive argument that hydrodynamics, which assumes instantaneous local thermalization, produces the largest possible elliptic flow values and that the data seem to saturate this limit. We here investigate the question whether incompletely thermalized viscous systems may actually produce more elliptic flow than ideal hydrodynamics. Motivated by the extremely fast primordial longitudinal expansion of the reaction zon…
We study (anti)deuteron formation rates in heavy-ion collisions in the framework of a wave-function based coalescence model. The main feature of our model is that nucleons are emitted from the whole spherically symmetric fireball volume, while antinucleons are emitted only from a spherical shell close to the surface. In this way, the model accounts for nucleon-antinucleon annihilations in the center of the reaction at lower beam energies. Comparison with experimental data on the coalescence parameter in the range $\sqrt{s_{NN}}= 4.7-200$ GeV allows us to extract radii of the respective source …
Based on simple scale arguments we argue that any thermalized fireball evolution scenario which is in agreement with the observed Hanbury-Brown Twiss (HBT) correlation radii at RHIC and reproduces the measured total multiplicity cannot reflect the distribution of matter at or close to a phase transition temperature of ~170 MeV and any scenario which assumes that HBT reflects these properties cannot be reached by a sensible choice of evolution parameters while agreeing with all correlation radii. We investigate this question in more detail using a parametrized version of the fireball evolution …
The experimental data on hadron yields and ratios in central lead-lead and gold-gold collisions at 158 AGeV/$c$ (SPS) and $\sqrt{s} = 130$ AGeV (RHIC), respectively, are analysed within a two-source statistical model of an ideal hadron gas. A comparison with the standard thermal model is given. The two sources, which can reach the chemical and thermal equilibrium separately and may have different temperatures, particle and strangeness densities, and other thermodynamic characteristics, represent the expanding system of colliding heavy ions, where the hot central fireball is embedded in a large…
We present new, exact, finite solutions of relativistic hydrodynamics for longitudinally expanding fireballs for arbitrary constant value of the speed of sound. These new solutions generalize earlier, longitudinally finite, exact solutions, from an unrealistic to a reasonable equation of state, characterized by a temperature independent (average) value of the speed of sound. Observables like the rapidity density and the pseudorapidity density are evaluated analytically, resulting in simple and easy to fit formulae that can be matched to the high energy proton-proton and heavy ion collision dat…
Evolution of the elliptic flow of hadrons in heavy-ion collisions at RHIC energies is studied within the microscopic quark-gluon string model. The elliptic flow is shown to have a multi-component structure caused by (i) rescattering and (ii) absorption processes in spatially asymmetric medium. Together with different freeze-out dynamics of mesons and baryons, these processes lead to the following trend in the flow formation: the later the mesons are frozen, the weaker their elliptic flow, whereas baryon fraction develops stronger elliptic flow during the late stages of the fireball evolution. …
We provide predictions for the J/psi coherent production in the peripheral heavy ion collisions at LHC and at RHIC using the leading twist model of nuclear shadowing based on the QCD factorization theorem for diffraction and the HERA hard diffraction data. We demonstrate that for the LHC kinematics this model leads to a bump-shape distribution in rapidity which is suppressed overall as compared to the expectations of the color transparency regime by a factor 6. This is significantly larger suppression than that expected within the impact parameter eikonal model. Thus we show that the interacti…
We discuss recent developments in assessing heavy-quark interaction in the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). While induced gluon radiation is expected to be the main energy-loss mechanism for fast-moving quarks, we focus on elastic scattering which prevails toward lower energies, evaluating both perturbative (gluon-exchange) and nonperturbative (resonance formation) interactions in the QGP. The latter are treated within an effective model for D- and B-meson resonances above T_c as motivated by current QCD lattice calculations. Pertinent diffusion and drag constants, following from a Fokker-Planck equa…
We investigate the production of psi(2S) in nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. We first address charmonium production in 200 GeV d-Au collisions at RHIC; the strong suppression of psi' mesons observed in these reactions indicates mechanisms beyond initial cold nuclear matter effects. We find that a more complete treatment of hadronic dissociation reactions leads to appreciable psi' suppression in the hadronic medium of an expanding fireball background for d-Au collisions. When implementing the updated hadronic reaction rates into a fireball for 2.76 TeV Pb-Pb collisions at LHC, the r…
The hydrodynamic (hydro) model applied to heavy ion data from the relativistic heavy ion collider (RHIC) in the form of single-particle spectra and correlations seems to indicate that a dense QCD medium nearly opaque to partons, a strongly-coupled quark-gluon plasma (sQGP), is formed in more-central Au-Au collisions, and that the sQGP may have a very small viscosity ("perfect liquid"). Measurements of radial and elliptic flows, with possible coalescence of "constituent quarks" to form hadrons, seem to support the conclusion. However, other measurements provide contradictory evidence. Unbiased …
The stochastic dynamics of c and b quarks in the fireball created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC is studied employing a relativistic Langevin equation, based on a picture of multiple uncorrelated random collisions with the medium. Heavy-quark transport coefficients are evaluated within a pQCD approach, with a proper HTL resummation of medium effects for soft scatterings. The Langevin equation is embedded in a multi-step setup developed to study heavy-flavor observables in pp and AA collisions, starting from a NLO pQCD calculation of initial heavy-quark yields, complemented in th…
The analysis of the preliminary RHIC data on $π^{+}-Ξ^{-}$ correlation function is carried out.The $Ξ^*(1530)$ resonance is successfully described. The values of the fireball radius and of the $π^{+}-Ξ^{-}$ scattering lengths are obtained.
The production of jets, and high momentum hadrons from jets, produced in deuteron ($d$)-$Au$ collisions at the relativistic heavy-ion collider (RHIC) and proton ($p$)-$Pb$ collisions at the large hadron collider (LHC) are studied as a function of centrality, a measure of the impact parameter of the collision. A modified version of the event generator PYTHIA, widely used to simulate $p$-$p$ collisions, is used in conjunction with a nuclear Monte-Carlo event generator which simulates the locations of the nucleons within a large nucleus. We demonstrate how events with a hard jet may be simulated,…
We present parameter-free predictions of the nuclear modification factor, R_{AA}^pi(p_T,s), of high p_T pions produced in Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt{s}_{NN}=2.76 and 5.5 ATeV based on the WHDG/DGLV (radiative+elastic+geometric fluctuation) jet energy loss model. The initial quark gluon plasma (QGP) density at LHC is constrained from a rigorous statistical analysis of PHENIX/RHIC pi^0 quenching data at sqrt{s}_{NN}=0.2 ATeV and the charged particle multiplicity at ALICE/LHC at 2.76 ATeV. Our perturbative QCD tomographic theory predicts significant differences between jet quenching at RHIC and LHC…
We study the directed flow of identified particles in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_\text{NN}}=7.7$ to 62.4 GeV. The Glauber model is extended to include both a tilted deformation of the QGP fireball with respect to the longitudinal direction and a non-zero longitudinal flow velocity gradient in the initial state. By combining this improved initial condition with a (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic model calculation, we obtain a satisfactory description of the transverse momentum spectra and the rapidity dependent directed flow coefficient of different hadron species. Our calculation indic…
The current normalization of the cross section of inclusive high-pT particle production in deuteron-gold collisions measured RHIC relies on Glauber calculations for the inelastic d-Au cross section. These calculations should be corrected for diffraction. Moreover, they miss the Gribov's inelastic shadowing which makes nuclei more transparent (color transparency). The magnitude of this effect rises with energy and it may dramatically affect the normalization of the RHIC data. We evaluate these corrections employing the light-cone dipole formalism and found a rather modest corrections for the cu…
We compute the spectra and elliptic flow of thermal photons emitted in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions (URHICs) at RHIC and LHC. The thermal emission rates are taken from complete leading-order rates for the QGP and hadronic many-body calculations including baryons and antibaryons, as well as meson-exchange reactions (including Bremsstrahlung). We first update previous thermal fireball calculations by implementing a lattice-QCD based equation of state and extend them to compare to recent LHC data. We then scrutinize the space-time evolution of Au-Au collisions at RHIC by employing an id…
The triangular flow in ultrarelativistic $^3$He-Au collisions at RHIC energies is enhanced due to the triangular arrangement of the nucleon configurations in $^3$He. We study the fireball eccentricities in the Glauber Monte Carlo model and find that since the configurations of the projectile $^3$He are elongated triangles, the created fireball has a large ellipticity and a smaller triangularity. The dependence of the triangularity on centrality is weak, so it cannot be extracted from the centrality dependence of the triangular flow $v_3$, as it is dominated by the centrality dependence of the …
We study charmonium production in proton-nucleus ($p$-A) collisions focusing on final-state effects caused by the formation of an expanding medium. Toward this end, we utilize a rate equation approach within a fireball model as previously employed for a wide range of heavy-ion collisions, adapted to the small systems in $p$-A collisions. The initial geometry of the fireball is taken from a Monte-Carlo event generator where initial anisotropies are caused by fluctuations. We calculate the centrality and transverse-momentum dependent nuclear modification factor ($R_{p{\rm A}}$) as well as ellipt…
We perform a systematic study on the decorrelation of anisotropic flows along the pseudorapidity in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at the LHC and RHIC energies. The dynamical evolution of the QGP fireball is simulated via the CLVisc (ideal) (3+1)-dimensional hydrodynamics model, with the fully fluctuating initial condition from A-Multi-Phase-Transport (AMPT) model. Detailed analysis is performed on the longitudinal decorrelations of elliptic, triangular and quadrangular flows in terms of flow vectors, flow magnitudes and flow orientations (event planes). It is found that pure flow magnitude…
The production length l_p of a leading (large z_h) hadron produced in hadronization of a highly virtual high-p_T parton is short because of the very intensive vacuum gluon radiation and dissipation of energy at the early stage of process. Therefore, the main part of nuclear suppression of high-p_T hadrons produced in heavy ion collisions is related to the survival probability of a colorless dipole propagating through a dense medium. This is subject to color transparency, which leads to a steep rise with p_T of the nuclear ratio R_{AA}(p_T), in good agreement with the recent data from the ALICE…
We study dependence of jet quenching on matter density, using "tomography" of the fireball provided by RHIC data on azimuthal anisotropy $v_2$ of high $p_t$ hadron yield at different centralities. Slicing the fireball into shells with constant (entropy) density, we derive a "layer-wise geometrical limit" $v_2^{max}$ which is indeed above the data $v_2<v_2^{max}$. Interestingly, the limit is reached only if quenching is dominated by shells with the entropy density exactly in the near-$T_c$ region. We show two models that simultaneously describe the high $p_t$ $v_2$ and $R_{AA}$ data and conclud…
We present state-of-the-art calculations of viscous photon emission from nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC. Fluctuating initial density profiles are evolved with event-by-event viscous hydrodynamics. Momentum spectra of thermal photons radiated by these explosively expanding fireballs and their $p_T$-differential anisotropic flow coefficients $v_n(p_T)$ are computed, both with and without accounting for viscous corrections to the standard thermal emission rates. Viscous corrections to the rates are found to have a larger effect on the $v_n$ coefficients than the viscous suppression of hydrody…
Nuclear effects for J/Psi production in pA collisions are controlled by the coherence and color transparency effects. Color transparency onsets when the time of formation of the charmonium wave function becomes longer than the inter-nucleon spacing. In this energy regime the effective break-up cross section for a c-cbar dipole depends on energy and nuclear path length, and agrees well with data from fixed target experiments, both in magnitude and energy dependence. At higher energies of RHIC and LHC coherence in c-cbar pair production leads to charm quark shadowing which is a complement to the…
We calculate volume-independent ratios of cumulants of the net-proton number distribution up to sixth order in a fireball that cools down after the chemical freeze-out. A hadron resonance gas model is used together with the assumption of partial chemical equilibrium, which fixes the number of observed stable hadrons after the chemical freeze-out. It is shown that due to only weak departure from the statistical Boltzmann distribution, also the volume-independent ratios of higher-order cumulants of the net-proton number show only weak dependence on the temperature. This observation supports the …
In this article we report on our results about the computation of the elliptic flow of the quark-gluon-plasma produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, simulating the expansion of the fireball by solving the relativistic Boltzmann equation for the parton distribution function tuned at a fixed shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $η/s$. Our main goal is to put emphasis on the role of a saturation scale in the initial gluon spectrum, which makes the initial distribution far from a thermalized one. We find that the presence of the saturation scale reduces the efficiency in building-up th…
We argue that the transverse shape of the fireball created in heavy ion collision is controlled by event-by-event fluctuations of the eccentricity vectors for the forward-going and backward-going wounded nucleons: $\vecε_n^{\mathrm{F}}\equiv ε_n^{\mathrm{F}} e^{i nΦ_n^{\mathrm{*F}}}$ and $\vecε_n^{\mathrm{B}}\equiv ε_n^{\mathrm{B}} e^{i nΦ_n^{\mathrm{*B}}}$. Due to the asymmetric energy deposition of each wounded nucleon along its direction of motion, the eccentricity vector of the produced fireball is expected to interpolate between $\vecε_n^{\mathrm{F}}$ and $\vecε_n^{\mathrm{B}}$ along the …
Direct photons have been proposed as a promising signature for the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Recently WA98 presented the first data on direct photons in Pb+Pb-collisions at SPS. At the same time RHIC started with its experimental program. The discovery of the QGP in these experiments relies on a comparison of data with theoretical predictions for QGP signals. In the case of direct photons new results for the production rates of thermal photons from the QGP and a hot hadron gas as well as for prompt photons from initial hard parton scatterings have…
We employ the POWLANG transport setup, developed over the last few years, to provide new predictions for several heavy-flavour observables in relativistic heavy-ion collisions from RHIC to LHC center-of-mass energies. In particular, we focus on the development of the flow-harmonics $v_2$ and $v_3$ arising from the initial geometric asymmetry in the initial conditions and its associated event-by-event fluctuations. Within the same transport framework, for the sake of consistency, we also compare the nuclear modification factor of the $p_T$ spectra of charm and beauty quarks, heavy hadrons and t…
Using a simplified model for in-medium dipole evolution accounting for color filtering effects we study production of hadrons at large transverse momenta $p_T$ in heavy ion collisions. In the framework of this model, several important sources of the nuclear suppression observed recently at RHIC and LHC have been analysed. A short production length of the leading hadron $l_p$ causes a strong onset of color transparency effects manifested themselves as a steep rise of the nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}(p_T)$ at large hadron $p_T$'s. A dominance of quarks with higher $l_p$ leads to a weaker …
