Creating the Primordial Quark-Gluon Plasma at RHIC and the LHC
Cover 3 decades of energy RHIC! PHENIX! in center-of-mass
STAR! √sNN = 2.76 TeV 5.5 TeV (2015) AGS! CMS
LHC!
√sNN = 5 - 200 GeV
ALICE ATLAS
Investigate properties of hot QCD matter at T ~ 150 – 1000 MeV! Top Ten Physics Newsmakers of 2000 – 2010 http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201002/newsmakers.cfm “Stories with the most lasting physical significance & impact in physics”
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) – modern marvel of science, last piece of standard model.
The Decade of Carbon – carbon nanotubes & graphene, will revolutionize electronics.
Negative Index of Refraction Materials – meta-materials make objects seem to disappear.
The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe – leftover heat from Big Bang.
Quantum Teleportation – quantum information transport across macroscopic distances.
Quark-Gluon Plasma – first instances after Big Bang, all matter as hot quarks & gluons.
Gravity Probe B – observed the geodetic effect (to look for frame dragging in general relativity).
Light Stopped – actually stopped altogether and stored for up to 20 milliseconds.
Direct Evidence for Dark Matter – two colliding galaxies confirm presence of dark matter.
Advances in Computing – > 1015 calculations / sec., map bio-structures, supercomputers. On the “First Day”
gravity electro- magnetism
weak strong There was light! Courtesy Nat. Geographic, Vol. 185, No. 1, 1994 – Graphics by Chuck Carter Consultants – Michael S. Turner and Sandra M. Faber then at 10 µ-seconds On the “First Day” & 2 x 1012 Kelvin Quark-to-hadron* phase transition
Quark-Gluon Plasma
Rapid inflation
gravity electro- gravity, strong & E-W magnetism forces separate
at 10-43 seconds
weak strong * hadrons = nuclear particles = mesons, baryons Courtesy Nat. Geographic, Vol. 185, No. 1, 1994 – Graphics by Chuck Carter Consultants – Michael S. Turner and Sandra M. Faber Behavior of QCD* at High Temperature ε/T4 ~ # degrees of freedom * Quantum Chomo-Dynamics 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 4 2 /T νπ 16 Tr0 SB T 4 ε = 14 4 30 /T 12 p4 10 3p/T4 asqtad many d.o.f.→deconfined 8 p4 6 asqtad 4 2 T [MeV] 0 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
A. Bazavov et al, Phys. Rev. D80 (2009) 014504 P. Petreczky, Journal of Physics G39 (2012) 093002
3 TC ~ 185 – 195 MeV → εC ~ 0.3 - 1 GeV/fm
few d.o.f.→confined Modifications to QCD Coupling Constant αs
heavy quark-antiquark coupling at finite T from lattice QCD O.Kaczmarek, hep-lat/0503017
Constituents - Hadrons, dressed quarks, quasi-hadrons, resonances? Coupling strength varies! investigates (de-)confinement, hadronization, Asymptotic Freedom & intermediate objects.
high Q2 low Q2 Modifications to QCD Coupling Constant αs
Nobel Prize 2004
D. Gross H.D. Politzer F. Wilczek Constituents - Hadrons, dressed quarks, QCD Asymptotic Freedom (1973) quasi-hadrons, resonances? Coupling strength varies! investigates (de-)confinement, hadronization, “Before [QCD] we could not go back further than 200,000 years after& intermediate the Big Bang. Today…since QCD simplifies at high energy, we can extrapolateobjects. to very early times when nucleons melted…to form a quark-gluon plasma.” David Gross, Nobel Lecture (RMP 05)
Quark-GluonQuark-Gluon Plasma Plasma (Soup) • Standard Model → Lattice Gauge Calculations predict QCD Deconfinement phase transition at T = 175 MeV • Cosmology → Quark-hadron phase transition in early Universe • Astrophysics → Cores of dense stars (?) • Can we make it in the lab?
• Establish properties of QCD at high T John Harris (Yale) 6th Odense Winter School on Theoretical Physics, 20 “How Can We Make a Quark Soup?” How to Make Quark Soup!
Strong – Nuclear Force “confines” quarks and gluons to be in particles
quark
• Compress or Heat Nuclei • To melt the vacuum! à Quark-Gluon Soup ! QuarkMeltNuclear the Gluon particlesparticles Soup! (quarks are confined) With the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (since 2000) 3.8 km circle
PHOBOS RHIC! BRAHMS PHENIX STAR