Related papers: Gauge/String Duality, Hot QCD and Heavy Ion Collis…
I discuss finite-temperature gauge theories as a framework to describe the quark-gluon plasma in the regime of high temperature where the gauge coupling is small, $g << 1$. I review recent progress in the understanding of the long-range…
When hot quark gluon plasma expands and cools down after an heavy ion collision, charge conservation leads to non-trivial correlations between the charge densities at different rapidities. If these correlations can be measured, they will…
The role of entropy production in the context of probing QCD properties at high densities and finite temperatures in ultra-relativistic collisions of heavy nuclei is inspected. It is argued that the entropy generated in these reactions…
We discuss a number of prominent theoretical challenges in the physics of ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions, and review some recent attempts to tackle them. These examples cover most stages of the collision process, but emphasis is…
We review a selection of recent developments in the application of ideas of string theory to heavy ion physics. Our topics divide naturally into equilibrium and non-equilibrium phenomena. On the non-equilibrium side, we discuss…
When quarks and gluons are led to form a dense medium, like in high energy or/and heavy-ion collisions, it is interesting to ask the question which are the relevant degrees of freedom that Quantum Chromodynamics predict. The present notes…
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…
In this work I explore theoretical and phenomenological implications of chemical potentials and charge densities inside a strongly coupled thermal plasma, using the gauge/gravity correspondence. Strong coupling effects discovered in this…
These introductory lectures present a broad overview of the physics of high parton densities in QCD and its application to our understanding of the early time dynamics in heavy ion collisions.
Heavy-ion collisions provide the only laboratory tests of relativistic quantum field theory at finite temperature. Understanding these is a necessary step in understanding the origins of our universe. These lectures introduce the subject to…
In this talk we present applications of the AdS/CFT correspondence to strongly coupled systems at finite temperature and particle density. The model we investigate contains adjoint matter described by the gauge multiplet of N=4, as well as…
I first sketch recent developments concerning the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter as a function of temperature and baryon density, obtained using a model for two-flavor QCD in which the interaction between quarks is modelled on…
We use Lorentzian signature AdS/CFT duality to study a first order phase transition in strongly coupled gauge theories which is akin to the chiral phase transition in QCD. We discuss the relation between the latent heat and the energy…
In this article, there are 18 sections discussing various current topics in the field of relativistic heavy-ion collisions and related phenomena, which will serve as a snapshot of the current state of the art. Section 1 reviews experimental…
By using lessons learned from modern string studies, we show how interesting non-perturbative features of QCD can be learned from future heavy ion collisions even if the deconfinement density is not reached.
It is known, since the 70's, that the large N 't Hooft limit of gauge theories is related to string theories. In 1998, J. M. Maldacena identified precisely such a relation: the so-called AdS/CFT correspondence which speculates a duality…
This presentation discusses some recently active topics in the theoretical interpretation of high energy heavy ion collisions at the LHC and at RHIC. We argue that the standard paradigm for understanding the spacetime evolution of the bulk…
We employ the AdS/CFT correspondence to investigate the thermalization of the strongly-coupled plasma and the jet quenching of a hard probe traversing such a thermalizing medium.
In this review article we consider a special case of $D=5$, $\mathcal{N}=2$ supergravity called the STU model. We apply the gauge/gravity correspondence to the STU model to gain insight into properties of the quark-gluon plasma. Given that…
Hard probes are indispensable tools to study the hot and dense quark-gluon matter created in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. These probes are created in the collision itself with a small cross section, and they serve as indicators…