Non-Equilibrium Aspects of the Quark-Gluon Plasma and Chiral Phase Transitions

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

9988720 Boyanovsky Recent results from CERN seem to indicate that a new form of matter predicted by the strong interactions, i.e, the quark gluon plasma can be produced in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. Current and forthcoming experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN with higher energies and luminosity will access this new state of matter which existed a few microseconds after the Big Bang. This proposal describes the continuation of a program to study non-equilibrium aspects of the phase transitions that lead to the formation and evolution of this novel plasma. The goal of this program is to find experimental signatures of these transitions associated with strongly out of equilibrium phenomena by adapting and implementing novel techniques of non-equilibrium quantum statistical physics to study phenomena on time scales of 10^-22 seconds and spatial scales of 10^-14 meters. The program has experimental relevance for the search of the quark-gluon plasma and phase transitions at RHIC and LHC with potential for interdisciplinary impact in cosmology and condensed matter physics.