Large momenta fluctuations of charm quarks in the Quark-Gluon Plasma<Superscript>⋆</Superscript>

We show that large fluctuations of D-mesons kinetic-energy (or momentum) distributions might be a signature of a phase transition to the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). In particular, a jump in the variance of the momenta or kinetic energy, as a function of a control parameter (temperature or Fermi energy at finite baryon densities) might be a signature for a first-order phase transition to the QGP. This behavior is completely consistent with the order parameter defined for a system of interacting quarks both at zero temperature (and finite baryon densities) or at finite temperatures which shows a jump in correspondence with a first-order phase transition to the QGP. The J/Ψ displays exactly the same behavior of the order parameter and of the variance of the D-mesons. We discuss implications for relativistic heavy-ion collisions within the framework of a transport model and possible hints for experimental search.     

Non-perturbative effects for the Quark-Gluon Plasma equation of state

The non-perturbative effects for the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) equation of state (EoS) are considered. The modifications of the bag model EoS are constructed to satisfy the main qualitative features observed for the QGP EoS in the lattice QCD calculations. A quantitative comparison with the lattice results is done for the SU(3) gluon plasma and for the QGP with dynamical quarks. Our analysis advocates a negative value of the bag constant B.     

Q¯ modes in the Quark-Gluon Plasma

We study the evolution of heavy quarkonium states with temperature in a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) by evaluating an in-medium Qˉ T-matrix within a reduced Bethe-Salpeter equation in S- and P-wave channels. The interaction kernel is extracted from finite-temperature QCD lattice calculations of the singlet free energy of a Qˉ pair. Quarkonium bound states are found to gradually move across the Qˉ threshold after which they rapidly dissolve in the hot system. We calculate Euclidean-time correlation functions and compare to results from lattice QCD. We also study finite-width effects in the heavy-quark propagators.     

Ultralight glueballs in Quark-Gluon Plasma

We consider the dynamics of the scalar and pseudoscalar glueballs in the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). By using the instanton model for the QCD vacuum we give the arguments that the nonperturbative gluon-gluon interaction is qualitatively different in the confinement and deconfinement phases. Based on this observation it is shown that above T _c the values of the scalar and pseudoscalar glueball masses might be very small. The estimation of the temperature of scale invariance restoration, at which the scalar glueball becomes massless, is given. We also discuss the Bose—Einstein condensation of the glueballs and the superfluidity of the glueball matter in QGP.     

Λ0 polarization in ultrarelativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

We study the polarization of Λ⁰’s produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. We argue that when the density of participants in the reaction is below the critical value for the production of a Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP), recombination processes dominate the Λ⁰ production cross section and hence, Λ⁰’s are polarized. However, when the density of participants is above the critical value for QGP formation, coalescence processes dominate Λ⁰ production, giving rise to a reduction in the Λ⁰ polarization. For densities below the critical density for QGP production, we describe Λ⁰ polarization in terms of the DeGrand-Miettinen model and correct for the effects introduced by multiple scattering of the produced Λ⁰ within the nuclear environment.     

PRODUCTION OF LARGE-TRANSVERSE-MOMENTUM PHOTONS AND THE QCD PHASE TRANSITION IN ULTRARELATIVISTIC NUCLEAR COLLISIONS

The production of large-transverse-momentum photons from Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) is discussed,and is used to analyze the high multiplicity event found in the Japanese-American Cooperative Emulsion Experiment (JACCEE).The theoretical result turns out to fit the experiment well.Thus the production of large transverse momentum photons provides an experimental signal of the QCD phase transition.     

Electromagnetic radiation from QGP with chromo-magnetic monopoles

We consider the radiation of photons from quarks scattering on color-magnetic monopoles in the Quark-Gluon Plasma. The calculation is performed in the classical, non-relativistic approximation and results are compared to photon emission from Coulomb scattering of quarks, known to provide a significant contribution to the photon emission rates from the QGP. The present study is a first step towards understanding whether this scattering process can give a sizable contribution to dilepton production in heavy-ion collisions.     

Photon production from quark gluon plasma at finite baryon density

The photon yield from a baryon-rich quark gluon plasma (QGP) at SPS energy has been estimated. In the QGP phase, rate of photon production is evaluated up to two-loop level. In the hadron phase, dominant contribution from π,ρ, ω mesons has been considered. The evolution of the plasma has been studied with appropriate equation of state in both QGP and hadron phase for a baryon-rich system. At SPS energy, the total photon yield is found to increase marginally in the presence of baryon density.     

Introduction to Quark-Gluon plasma

Study of Quark-Gluon plasma (QGP) has been a very active area of research in high energy physics since last four decades. This article gives an elementary introduction to QGP. It covers the motivation to study QGP, its abundance in nature, experimental status, production mechanism, signatures and modelling dynamics. We have discussed the medium effects in QGP in terms of response functions, heavy quark potential and Landau damping. Some other recent approaches are also discussed.     

Field localization and particle confinement effects on pair creation by Schwinger’s mechanism

Solutions of the Dirac equation in the presence of a static uniform electric fieldɛ in thez-direction and a linear confining potentialAz, are obtained. Generalized reflection and transmission coefficients are derived for such divergent potentials forɛ >A/e. The eigenspectrum and corresponding localized eigenfunctions forɛ <A/e are obtained from the reflection coefficient and the continuum solutions respectively. The rate for the electric field to decay into pairs is derived from the transmission coefficient. Neglecting nonabelian effects in quantum chromodynamics we identify the fieldɛ with a colour electric field and the produced particles with a quark and an antiquark. By considering a cylindrical geometry, we thus obtain a generalization of Schwinger’s formula, for the fieldɛ in a finite spatial region with the quark (antiquark) being confined in thez direction by the linear potentialAz and in the perpendicular direction by the MIT bag boundary condition. The result is used to qualitatively study Schwinger’s mechanism of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. It is found that the critical strength of the field required to create pairs is enhanced,ɛ _c(A) >ɛ _c(A = 0). The rate of pair creation for constantɛ, decreases for non-zeroA, implying longer QGP formation times. Because ofɛ _c(A) >ɛ _c(0), QGP is predicted to be formed in the early stages of the nuclear collision. The finite size effects and the MIT bag boundary condition effects on QGP formation are also discussed.     

Effects of the formation time of parton shower on jet quenching in heavy-ion collisions

Jet quenching has successfully served as a hard probe to study the properties of Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). As a multi-particle system, jets require time to develop from a highly virtual parton to a group of partons close to mass shells. In this study, we present a systematical analysis on the effects of this formation time on jet quenching in relativistic nuclear collisions. Jets from initial hard scatterings were simulated with Pythia, and their interactions with QGP were described using a Linear Boltzmann Transport (LBT) model that incorporates both elastic and inelastic scatterings between jet partons and the thermal medium. Three different estimations of the jet formation time were implemented and compared, including instantaneous formation, formation from single splitting, and formation from sequential splittings, before which no jet-medium interaction was assumed. We found that deferring the jet-medium interaction with a longer formation time not only affects the overall magnitude of the nuclear modification factor of jets but also its dependence on the jet transverse momentum.     

SCQGP in quark stars

From an analogy with non-relativistic degenerate QED plasma we make an estimate of the coupling strength of QGP hypothesized to be present in compact star interiors. At densities ranging from 3ρ ₀–10ρ ₀ (normal nuclear density ρ ₀=0.16 fm⁻³), quark matter is found to be strongly to intermediately coupled. The equation of state for QED plasma obtained via Pade approximation, modified to QGP, yields stable stellar sequences with maximum mass ≳2M _⊙ for B ^1/4≲215 MeV.     

Study of QGP signatures with the ? → K+K– signal in Pb-Pb ALICE events

The ϕ → K ⁺ K ^– decay channel in Pb-Pb collisions at LHC is studied through a full simulation of the ALICE detector. The study focuses on possible signatures in this channel of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation. On a basis of 10⁶ collisions at high centrality some proposed QGP signatures are clearly visible both in K ⁺ K ^– invariant mass and transverse mass distributions. The high significance of this observation appears to reside heavily on the use of the TOF (Time Of Flight) system of ALICE in addition to its central tracking detectors. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Stability of quark gluon plasma to nielsen-olesen mode

Nielsen and Olesen showed that perturbative vacuum with uniform chromomagnetic field in one space and one color direction is unstable. This instability is called Nielsen-Olesen instability (NOI), and leads to formation of a ‘spaghetti of flux tubes’ as a model for non-perturbative vacuum and confinement. We re-examine this instability in presence of color sources, quarks and gluons, at a finite temperature and find that at sufficiently high temperature NOI is stabilized due to an ‘effective mass’ of gluons arising through plasma effects. This explains how a QGP with no confinement effects may exist at high temperature. As the temperature is lowered, NOI reappears at a valueT=T _c, which is very close to confinement-deconfinement transition from hadrons to QGP..     

J/<Emphasis Type="Italic">ψ</Emphasis> production measurements by the PHENIX experiment

Quarkonia suppression is considered to be one of the key probes of the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) created in heavy ion collisions. The PHENIX experiment has measured J/ψ production in a variety of colliding systems. Measurements made in p+p collisions show good agreement with pQCD predictions and serve as baseline for other systems at the same collision energy. The cold nuclear matter contribution to the suppression is constrained through measurements in d+Au collisions. In Au+Au, the suppression observed at mid rapidity is smaller than that at forward rapidity, a tendency opposite to what is expected from the higher gluon density at mid rapidity. The results will be presented and discussed in this article.     

String junction effects for forward and central baryon production in hadron-nucleus collisions

The process of baryon number transfer due to string junction propagation in rapidity space is considered. It leads to a significant effect in the net baryon production in pA collisions at mid-rapidities and an even more significant effect in the forward hemisphere for the cases of πA interactions. The results of numerical calculations in the framework of the Quark-Gluon String Model are in reasonable agreement with the data. Special consideration is given to Λ produced in π^-A collisions extracted from the data of the WA89 Collaboration.     

T-matrix approach to heavy quark diffusion in the QGP

We assess transport properties of heavy quarks in the quark–gluon plasma (QGP) using static heavy-quark (HQ) potentials from lattice-QCD calculations in a Brueckner many-body T-matrix approach to evaluate elastic heavy-quark–light-quark scattering amplitudes. In the attractive meson and diquark channels, resonance states are formed for temperatures up to ∼1.5T _c, increasing pertinent drag and diffusion coefficients for heavy-quark rescattering in the QGP beyond the expectations from perturbative-QCD calculations. We use these transport coefficients, complemented with perturbative elastic HQ gluon scattering, in a relativistic Langevin simulation to obtain HQ p _t distributions and elliptic flow (v ₂) under conditions relevant for the hot and dense medium created in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. The heavy quarks are hadronized to open-charm and -bottom mesons within a combined quark-coalescence fragmentation scheme. The resulting single-electron spectra from their semileptonic decays are confronted with recent data on “non-photonic electrons” in 200 A GeV Au–Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC).     

The analysis of π− mesons produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions at a momentum of 4.5 GeV/c nucleon in light front variables

The light front analysis of π⁻ mesons in He(Li,C), C-Ne, C-Cu and O-Pb collisions is carried out. The phase space of secondary pions is divided into two parts in one of which the thermal equilibrium assumption seems to be in a good agreement with the data. Corresponding temperatures T are extracted and their dependence on (A _P·A _T)^1/2 is studied. The results are compared with the predictions of the Quark-Gluon String Model (QGSM). The QGSM satisfactorily reproduces the experimental data for light and intermediate-mass nuclei. Received: 29 September 1999     

J/ψ suppression vs centrality at forward and mid-rapidity in Au+Au collisions at RHIC in colour screening mechanism

We extend our previous formalism [Phys. Lett. B 656 45 (2007)] on J/ψ suppression at midrapidity using the colour screening framework. Our formalism is more general as the complete rapidity, transverse momentum and centrality dependence including J/ψ suppression at forward as well as mid-rapidity can be computed directly from it. We have assumed that QGP fluid is expanding obeying Bjorken’s boost invariant scaling law and bag model EOS is used. Sequential melting of χ _c (1P) as well as ψ′ (2S) higher resonances is incorporated. We find that our model shows a reasonable agreement with the mid and forward rapidity data. Furthermore, we observe a larger suppression at forward rapidity in our model which is again well supported by the PHENIX data.     

Deuteron photodisintegration within the Quark-Gluon Strings Model and QCD motivated nonlinear Regge trajectories

We investigate deuteron two-body photodisintegration within the framework of the Quark-Gluon Strings Model with nonlinear baryon Regge trajectories. Special attention is paid to the use of QCD motivated Regge trajectories of the logarithmic and square-root form. We find that the recent experimental data from TJNAF in the few-GeV region can be reasonably described by the model. Angular distributions at different γ-energies are presented and the effect of a forward-backward asymmetry is discussed. Predictions for the energy dependence of dσ/dt at higher energies and different Θ_c.m. are presented, too. Received: 12 March 2001 / Accepted: 19 March 2001