Related papers: Introduction to Equilibrium Thermal Field Theory
Within the next few years experiments at RHIC and the LHC will seek to create in the laboratory a quark-gluon plasma, the phase of matter in which the Universe was initially created. It is believed that the plasma will survive long enough…
In these lectures, I will attempt a pedagogical and qualitative introduction to the theory of equilibrium and thermalization of quark-gluon plasmas. I assume only that the reader is familiar with quantum field theory at zero temperature and…
The lecture provides an introduction to thermal field theory and its applications to the physics of the quark-gluon plasma, possibly created in relativistic heavy ion collisions. In particular the Hard Thermal Loop resummation technique,…
The lecture provides a brief introduction of thermal field theory within imaginary time formalism, the Hard Thermal Loop perturbation theory and some of its application to the physics of the quark-gluon plasma, possibly created in…
Quantum field theory at finite temperature and density can be used for describing the physics of relativistic plasmas. Such systems are frequently encountered in astrophysical situations, such as the early Universe, Supernova explosions,…
This Chapter introduces QCD at finite temperature and density. We first present the formulation of the thermal theory in the Euclidean path integral formalism. We then describe how the strong dynamics at high temperature can be inspected…
Nonperturbative picture of strong interacting quark-gluon plasma is given based on the systematic Field Correlator Method. Equation of state, phase transition in density-temperature plane is derived and compared to lattice data as well as…
The problem of thermalization of a quark -- gluon plasma is addressed in the framework of thermal field theory. Within a simple approximation, the full quantum relaxation problem is solved and compared to the Boltzmann solution. Memory…
We show the evolution of a gluon plasma towards equilibrium starting at some early moment when the momentum distribution in the central region is momentaneously isotropic. Using HIJING results for Au+Au collision as initial input, we…
Our current knowledge of the quark-gluon plasma in thermodynamical equilibrium is reviewed. The phase diagram of strongly interacting matter is discussed, with emphasis on the quark-hadron phase transition and the color-superconducting…
The relativistic Fokker Planck equation has been used to study the evolution of the quark distribution in the quark gluon phase expected to be formed in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. The effect of thermal masses for quarks and…
The phenomenon of prethermalization and the subsequent steps of thermalization are analyzed in the framework of the chiral quark model. We solve the quantum equations of motion of the field theory derived from the 2PI effective action and…
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…
We review the various methods which have been employed recently to describe the thermodynamics of the high temperature quark-gluon plasma using weak coupling techniques, and we compare their results with those of most recent lattice gauge…
Questions concerning nuclear phase transitions are addressed within the transport theory. The issue of thermal equilibrium in the region of the liquid-gas phase transition is investigated. Signatures of the transition to the quark-gluon…
A proper description of the non-equilibrium matter preceding the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in heavy-ion collisions and its observable consequences remain a major theoretical challenge, while at the same time offering new opportunities for…
This review has explored the fundamental principles of thermal field theory in the context of a background magnetic field, highlighting its theoretical framework and some of its applications to the thermo-magnetic QCD plasma generated in…
There has been substantial progress in recent years in the quantitative understanding of the nonequilibrium time evolution of quantum fields. Important topical applications, in particular in high energy particle physics and cosmology,…
I retrace the developments from Hagedorn's concept of a limiting temperature for hadronic matter to the discovery and characterization of the quark-gluon plasma as a new state of matter. My recollections begin with the transformation more…
Experimental studies of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) focus on two, in practice distinct, regimes: one in which the baryonic chemical potential $\mu_B$ is essentially zero, the other in which it is of the same order of magnitude as the…