arXiv subjects

Benjamin Svetitsky

Publications and source records attributed to Benjamin Svetitsky.

58 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv1997

The Ising model and bubbles in the quark-gluon plasma

I review evidence for the stability of bubbles in the quark-gluon plasma near the confinement phase transition. In analogy with the much-studied oil-water emulsions, this raises the possibility that there are many phases between the pure plasma and the pure hadron gas, characterized by spontaneous inhomogeneity and modulation. In studying emulsions, statistical physicists have reproduced many of their phases with microscopic models based on Ising-like theories with competing interactions. Hence we seek an effective Ising Hamiltonian for the SU(3) gauge theory near its transition.

hep-lat↗

arXiv1997

Ising description of the transition region in SU(3) gauge theory at finite temperature

We attempt the numerical construction of an effective action in three dimensions for Ising spins which represent the Wilson lines in the four-dimensional SU(3) gauge theory at finite temperature. For each configuration of the gauge theory, each spin is determined by averaging the Wilson lines over a small neighborhood and then projecting the average to +/-1 according to whether the neighborhood is ordered or disordered. The effective Ising action, determined via the lattice Schwinger-Dyson equations, contains even (two-spin) and odd (one- and three-spin) terms with short range. We find that the truncation to Ising degrees of freedom produces an effective action which is discontinuous across the gauge theory's phase transition. This discontinuity may disappear if the effective action is made more elaborate.

hep-lat↗

arXiv1996

Passage of charmed particles through the mixed phase in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

We employ a modified cascade hydrodynamics code to simulate the phase transition of an expanding quark-gluon plasma and the passage of a charmed particle through it. When inside the plasma droplets, the charmed quark experiences drag and diffusion forces. When outside the plasma, the quark travels as a $D$ meson and experiences collisions with pions. Additional energy transfer takes place when the quark enters or leaves a droplet. We find that the transverse momentum of $D$ mesons provides a rough thermometer of the phase transition.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1995

Charmonium in a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma

We present a model of charmonium as two heavy quarks propagating classically in a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma. The quarks interact via a static, color-dependent potential and also suffer collisions with the plasma particles. We calculate the radiation width of the color octet state (for fixed, classical $q\bar q$ separation) and find that it is long-lived provided a finite gluon mass is used to provide a threshold energy.

hep-ph↗