Heavy ion collisions quickly form a droplet of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) with a remarkably small viscosity. We give an accessible introduction to how to study this smallest and hottest droplet of liquid made on earth and why it is so interesting. The physics of heavy ions ranges from highly energetic quarks and gluons described by perturbative QCD to a bath of strongly interacting gluons at lower energy scales. These gluons quickly thermalize and form QGP, while the energetic partons traverse this plasma and end in a shower of particles called jets. Analyzing the final particles in a variety of different ways allows us to study the properties of QGP and the complex dynamics of multi-scale processes in QCD which govern its formation and evolution, providing what is perhaps the simplest form of complex quantum matter that we know of. Much remains to be understood, and throughout the review big open questions will be encountered.
We present a nontechnical review of the current understanding of the phenomenon of color confinement. The emphasis is put on recent advances. This is a combined and slightly expanded version of talks delivered at 14th International QCD Conference "QCD 08," 7-12th July 2008, Montpellier, France, the International Conference "Quark Confinement and the Hadron Spectrum," Mainz, Germany, September 1-6, 2008 (Confinement 08), and the International Conference "Approaches to Quantum Chromodynamics," Oberwoelz, Austria, September 7-13, 2008.
I schematically, and very lightly, review some ideas that fuel model building in the field of baryogenesis. Due to limitations of space, and my expertise, this mini-review is incomplete and biased toward particle physics, especially supersymmetry.
We study, for the first time, the spatial extension of the "source" that produces quark gluon plasma (QGP) in ultra relativistic heavy ion collisions. The longitudinal dimension is studied as a function of time as the system evolves. The source size is found to exhibit a novel non-classical feature.
The dependence on centrality, or on the number of nucleon participants, of the midrapidity density of charged particles measured in heavy-ion collisions at the collision energy of about 20 GeV at RHIC to the highest LHC energy of 5 TeV is investigated within the recently proposed effective-energy approach. This approach relates multihadron production in different types of collisions by combining, under the proper scaling of the collision energy, the constituent quark picture with Landau relativistic hydrodynamics. The measurements are shown to be well described based on the similarity of multi…
Quantum effects in the quadrupole rotor picture of ultra-relativistic ion-ion collisions
CEA, DES, IRESNE, DER, SPRC, LEPh（法国原子能及替代能源委员会）；School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学物理学院）；Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Quantum Metrology and Sensing, Sun Yat-Sen University（中山大学广东省量子计量与传感重点实验室）；Technische Universität Darmstadt（达姆施塔特工业大学）；Université Paris-Saclay – CEA – IRFU（巴黎萨克雷大学-法国原子能及替代能源委员会-核物理研究所）；Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics, Kyoto University（京都大学汤川理论物理研究所）
In these lectures I discuss cosmological phase transitions with the goal of establishing the possibility of observational consequences. I argue that the {\em only} phase transition amenable of experimental study within the foreseeable future is that predicted by QCD and discuss some of the potential observational cosmological consequences associated with this phase transition(s). I describe the experimental effort to study the QCD phase transition(s) at RHIC and SPS and summarize some of the recent experimental results. The possibility of novel phases of QCD in the core of pulsars is discussed…
We investigate the large photon v2 puzzle and the two time scales of thermal and chemical equilibrium in heavy ion collisions. The two-time-scale picture has a weak effect on the transverse moemntum spectrum of direct photons, but a strong effect on the elliptic flow of direct photons. Thus both the spectrum and the elliptic flow of direct photons may be explained with hydro evolution constrained with hadron data. In such a picture, a gluon dominant matter appears in heavy ion collisions. This new matter may impact strongly to other fields such as astrophysics and cosmology.
We present a study of inhomogeneous big bang nucleosynthesis with emphasis on transport phenomena. We combine a hydrodynamic treatment to a nuclear reaction network and compute the light element abundances for a range of inhomogeneity parameters. We find that shortly after annihilation of electron-positron pairs, Thomson scattering on background photons prevents the diffusion of the remaining electrons. Protons and multiply charged ions then tend to diffuse into opposite directions so that no net charge is carried. Ions with Z>1 get enriched in the overdense regions, while protons diffuse out …
The existence of an exotic long-lived negatively charged massive particle, i.e., X-, during big bang nucleosynthesis can affect primordial light element abundances. Especially, the final abundance of 7Li, mainly originating from the electron capture of 7Be, has been suggested to reduce by the 7Be destruction via the radiative X- capture of 7Be followed by the radiative proton capture of the bound state of 7Be and X- (7BeX). We suggest a new route of 7BeX formation, that is the 7Be charge exchange at the reaction of 7Be3+ ion and X-. The formation rate depends on the number fraction of 7Be3+ io…
We study the dynamics of quantum fluctuations which take place at the earliest stage of high-energy processes and the conditions under which the data from e-p deep-inelastic scattering may serve as an input for computing the initial data for heavy-ion collisions at high energies. Our method is essentially based on the space-time picture of these seemingly different phenomena. We prove that the ultra-violet renormalization of the virtual loops does not bring any scale into the problem. The scale appears only in connection with the collinear cut-off in the evolution equations and is defined by t…
We discuss coherent and incoherent photoproduction of $J/Ψ$ vector mesons in high energy heavy ion collisions. In a dipole picture for the photon both can be naturally related to the dipole cross section that is also probed in inclusive DIS. We compare results of a particular calculation to ALICE data.
Recent LHC results indicate a suppression of jet fragmentation functions in Pb-Pb collisions at intermediate values of $ξ=\ln(1/z)$. This seems to contradict the picture of energy loss based on the induced QCD radiation that is expected to lead to the enhancement of in-medium fragmentation functions. We use an effective 1+1 dimensional quasi-Abelian model to describe the dynamical modification of jet fragmentation in the medium. We find that this approach describes the data, and argue that there is no contradiction between the LHC results and the picture of QCD radiation induced by the in-medi…
We discuss a standard model of heavy ion collisions that has emerged both from the experimental results of the RHIC program and associated theoretical developments. We comment briefly on the impact of early results of the LHC program on this picture. We consider how this standard model of heavy ion collisions could be solidified or falsified in future experiments at RHIC, the LHC and a future Electron-Ion Collider.
We perform quantum calculations of fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields in $AA$ collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. We find that in the quantum picture the field fluctuations are much smaller than predictions of the classical Monte-Carlo simulation with the Woods-Saxon nuclear density.
We study the structure of antiproton spectra at extreme subthreshold bombarding energies using a thermodynamic picture. Antiproton production processes and final state interactions are discussed in detail in order to find out what can be learned about these processes from the observed spectra.
Collective flow, its anisotropies and its event-to-event fluctuations in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, and the extraction of the specific shear viscosity of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) from collective flow data collected in heavy-ion collision experiments at RHIC and LHC are reviewed. Specific emphasis is placed on the similarities between the Big Bang of our universe and the Little Bangs created in heavy-ion collisions.
We show that a measurement of the reaction energy dependence of relative hadron resonance yields in heavy ion collisions can be used to study the phase structure of the dense QCD matter created in these collisions, and investigate the origin of the trends observed in the excitation functions of certain soft hadronic observables. We show that presence of chemical nonequilibrium in light quark abundance imparts a characteristic signature on the energy dependence of resonance yields, that differs considerably from what is expected in the equilibrium picture.
We perform quantum calculations of fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields in $AA$ collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. The analysis is based on the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. We find that in the quantum picture the field fluctuations are very small. They turn out to be much smaller than the predictions of the classical Monte-Carlo simulation with the Woods-Saxon nuclear density.
Within perturbative QCD, we develop a new picture for the parton shower generated by a jet propagating through a dense quark-gluon plasma. This picture combines in a simple, factorised, way multiple medium-induced parton branchings and standard vacuum-like emissions, with the phase-space for the latter constrained by the presence of the medium. We implement this picture as a Monte Carlo generator that we use to study two phenomenologically important observables: the jet nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}$ and the $z_g$ distribution reflecting the jet substructure. In both cases, the outcome o…
Combining the hydrodynamic model (Hydro code) and the transport model (PACIAE model), we present the Hydro-PACIAE hybrid model. We use the Hydro-PACIAE hybrid model to calculate Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=130 GeV and Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=2.76 TeV. The obtained pseudo-rapidity and transverse momentum distributions well reproduce the experimental data. This shows that the Hydro-PACIAE hybrid model is useful to describe the ultrarelativistic Heavy Ion Collisions at RHIC and LHC Energies. We used the hybrid model to calculate the elliptical flow for the Pb+Pb collisions at …
We calculate the light cone wave functions for a virtual photon to split into quark-antiquark states, including for the first time quark masses at one loop accuracy. These wave functions can be used to calculate cross sections for several precision probes of perturbative gluon saturation at the Electron-Ion Collider. Using these wave functions we derive, for the first time, the dipole picture DIS cross sections at one loop for longitudinal and transverse virtual photons including quark masses. The quark masses are renormalized in the pole mass scheme, satisfying constraints from the requiremen…
We perform quantum calculations of fluctuations of the electromagnetic fields in $AA$ collisions at RHIC and LHC energies. Calculations are performed with the help of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem accounting for the giant dipole and quadrupole resonances. We find that in the quantum picture the field fluctuations are much smaller than that predicted by the classical Monte-Carlo simulation with the Woods-Saxon nuclear density used in previous analyses.
The present status of the heavy-ion program to search for quark-gluon plasma is reviewed. The goal of this program is to recreate the Big Bang in the laboratory, by generating small chunks of exploding quark-gluon plasma (``The Little Bang''). I argue that the analogues of the three pillars of Big Bang Theory (Hubble flow, microwave background radiation, and primordial nucleosynthesis) have now been firmly established in heavy-ion collisions at SPS energies: there is convincing evidence for strong radial flow, thermal hadron emission, and primordial hadrosynthesis from a color-deconfined initi…
We calculate the nuclear cross section for coherent and incoherent vector meson production within the QCD color dipole picture, including saturation effects. Theoretical estimates for scattering on both light and heavy nuclei are given over a wide range of energy.
We investigate the collision energy dependence of deuteron and antideuteron emission in the RHIC-BES low- to mid-energy range $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 4.6-200$ GeV where the formation rate of antinuclei compared to nuclei is strongly suppressed. In the coalescence picture, this can be understood as bulk emission for nuclei in contrast to surface emission for antinuclei. By comparison with experimental data on the coalescence parameter $B_2$, we are able to extract the respective source geometries. This interpretation is further supported by results from the UrQMD transport model, and establishes the f…
We calculate the transition between a quarkonium state and an unbound heavy quark-antiquark pair through gluo-dissociation and inelastic parton scattering using a partonic picture that interpolates between the formal limits based on potential nonrelativistic QCD (pNRQCD) at different temperatures. While the thermal width increases with momentum and temperature, the quarkonium regeneration is affected by the heavy quark distribution function which depends on the diffusion constant. By solving the Boltzmann equation with the dissociation and regeneration terms, we investigate the medium modifica…
We consider the production of the open charm and J/psi mesons in heavy ion collisions at BNL RHIC. We discuss several recently developed pictures for J/psi production and argue that a measurement at RHIC energies is crucial for disentangling these different descriptions.
The final state of $Au + Au$ collisions at sqrt{s}=130 AGeV at RHIC has been reconstructed within the framework of the Buda-Lund hydro model, by performing a simultaneous fit to preliminary PHENIX and STAR data on two-particle Bose-Einstein correlations and identified single particle spectra. The Hubble constant of the expanding final state of this heavy ion collision is determined to be H = <u_t> = 0.77 +- 0.09.
A concise look at the big picture of particle physics, including the status of the Standard Model, neutrinos, supersymmetry, extra dimensions and cosmology. Based upon the theoretical summary presented at the XLIst Rencontres de Moriond on Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories, La Thuile, 11-18 March 2006.
We discuss the salient features of exclusive vector meson production in heavy ion collisions at LHC energies. Special attention is paid to the space-time picture of the process. We account for both coherent and incoherent contributions. The explicit quantitative predictions are given for the $ρ$-meson differential cross section in lead-lead collisions in different kinematical configurations relevant for the LHCb and ALICE experiments.
Dilepton production in heavy ion collisions, in the Intermediate Mass Region (IMR) has consistently shown an excess over theoretical estimates. An attempt to understand this discrepancy between the observed dilepton pairs and the theoretical estimate is made here through the production of the $η_c$ meson and estimates obtained by NRQCD calculations. We find that $η_c$ production offers a satisfactory quantitative picture for explaining the discrepancy.
We propose to apply the two-particle irreducible (2PI) formalism to the problem of thermalization in heavy-ion collisions in the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) picture. We consider the 2PI effective action to three loops and derive a set of coupled equations for the classical Yang-Mills field and the quantum fluctuations in the boost invariant coordinate system. The initial condition and the relation to previous works are also discussed.
We present a simple gluon production picture which is based on the McLerran-Venugopalan model and gluon BFKL evolution in relativistic heavy ion collision. Results for the multiplicity and transverse energy distribution in both the central and forward rapidity regions for gluon production in early stages of heavy ion collisions at the LHC are given. Finally, we provide a general qualitative discussion of the consequences of the forward rapidity behavior of produced gluons.
A rotationally-symmetrical ellipsoidal flow model is proposed for the relativistic heavy-ion collisions and compared with the 14.6 A GeV/c Si-Al and 10.8 A GeV/c Au-Au collision data. The large stopping in the heavier collision system and heavier produced particles is accounted for by using the ellipsoidal flow picture. The central dip in the proton and deuteron rapidity distributions for Si-Al collision are reproduced.
We propose a picture of turbulent pattern formation in the relativistic heavy-ion collision, which follows an efficient process to break color strings and dispose energy in the whole phase space. We perform numerical simulations using the SU(2) pure Yang-Mills theory in a non-expanding box to observe a dynamical phenomenon in the transverse plane akin to the domain growth in time-dependent spin systems.
