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C. Greiner

Publications and source records attributed to C. Greiner.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

Nonequilibrium Quantum-Field Dynamics and Off-Shell Transport for $ϕ^4$-theory in 2+1 dimensions

We solve the Kadanoff-Baym equations for nonequilibrium initial configurations of the $ϕ^4$-theory in 2+1 dimensions and compare to explicit solutions of generalized transport equations for the same theory. The latter transport equations are derived from the Kadanoff-Baym equation in a first order gradient expansion in phase space and explicitly retain the off-shell dynamics as inherent in the time-dependent spectral functions. The solutions of these equations compare very well with the exact solutions of the full Kadanoff-Baym equations with respect to the occupation numbers of the individual modes, the spectral evolution as well as the chemical equilibration process. Furthermore, the proper equilibrium off-shell distribution is reached for large times contrary to the quasiparticle Boltzmann limit. We additionally present a direct comparison of the solution of the generalized transport equations in the Kadanoff-Baym and Botermans-Malfliet form; both solutions are found to agree very well with each other.

nucl-th↗

Dynamics of strange, charm and high momentum hadrons in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions

We investigate hadron production and attenuation of hadrons with strange and charm quarks (or antiquarks) as well as high transverse momentum hadrons in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions from 2 AGeV to 21.3 ATeV within two independent transport approaches (UrQMD and HSD). Both transport models are based on quark, diquark, string and hadronic degrees of freedom, but do not include any explicit phase transition to a quark-gluon plasma. From our dynamical calculations we find that both models do not describe the maximum in the $K^+/π^+$ ratio at 20 - 30 AGeV in central Au+Au collisions found experimentally, though the excitation functions of strange mesons are reproduced well in HSD and UrQMD. Furthermore, the transport calculations show that the charmonium recreation by $D+\bar{D} \to J/Ψ+ meson$ reactions is comparable to the dissociation by 'comoving' mesons at RHIC energies contrary to SPS energies. This leads to the final result that the total $J/Ψ$ suppression as a function of centrality at RHIC should be less than the suppression seen at SPS energies where the 'comover' dissociation is substantial and the backward channels play no role. Furthermore, our transport calculations -- in comparison to experimental data on transverse momentum spectra from $pp$, d+Au and Au+Au reactions -- show that pre-hadronic effects are responsible for both the hardening of the hadron spectra for low transverse momenta (Cronin effect) as well as the suppression of high $p_T$ hadrons. The mutual interactions of formed hadrons are found to be negligible in central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 200 GeV for $p_T \geq$ 6 GeV/c and the sizeable suppression seen experimentally is attributed to a large extent to the interactions of 'leading' pre-hadrons with the dense environment.

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Quantum dynamics and thermalization for out-of-equilibrium phi^4-theory

The quantum time evolution of ϕ^4-field theory for a spatially homogeneous system in 2+1 space-time dimensions is investigated numerically for out-of-equilibrium initial conditions on the basis of the Kadanoff-Baym equations including the tadpole and sunset self-energies. Whereas the tadpole self-energy yields a dynamical mass, the sunset self-energy is responsible for dissipation and an equilibration of the system. In particular we address the dynamics of the spectral (`off-shell') distributions of the excited quantum modes and the different phases in the approach to equilibrium described by Kubo-Martin-Schwinger relations for thermal equilibrium states. The investigation explicitly demonstrates that the only translation invariant solutions representing the stationary fixed points of the coupled equation of motions are those of full thermal equilibrium. They agree with those extracted from the time integration of the Kadanoff-Baym equations in the long time limit. Furthermore, a detailed comparison of the full quantum dynamics to more approximate and simple schemes like that of a standard kinetic (on-shell) Boltzmann equation is performed. Our analysis shows that the consistent inclusion of the dynamical spectral function has a significant impact on relaxation phenomena. The different time scales, that are involved in the dynamical quantum evolution towards a complete thermalized state, are discussed in detail. We find that far off-shell 1 <-> 3 processes are responsible for chemical equilibration, which is missed in the Boltzmann limit. Finally, we address briefly the case of (bare) massless fields. For sufficiently large couplings $λ$ we observe the onset of Bose condensation, where our scheme within symmetric ϕ^4-theory breaks down.

hep-ph↗

Quenching of High pT Hadron Spectra by Hadronic Interactions in Heavy Ion Collisions at RHIC

Typically the materialization of high energetic transverse partons to hadronic jets is assumed to occur outside the reaction zone in a relativistic heavy ion collision. In contrast, a quantum mechanical estimate yields a time on the order of only a few fm/c for building up the hadronic wavefunction for jets with typical transverse momenta of pT < 10 GeV as accessible at RHIC facilities. The role of possible elastic or inelastic collisions of these high pT particles with the bulk of hadrons inside the fireball is addressed by means of an opacity expansion in the number of collisions. This analysis shows that the hadronic final state interactions can in principle account for the modification of the (moderate) high pT spectrum observed for central collisions at RHIC.

hep-ph↗

Photoproduction of phi mesons from nuclei

We investigate the consequences of possible medium modifications of the phi meson at finite nuclear matter density on the K+K- mass distribution in photonuclear reactions. The inclusive cross sections for K+K- pair production are calculated within a semi--classical BUU transport model, which combines the initial state interaction of the incoming photon with the final state interactions of the produced particles. The effects of final state interactions on the invariant mass distribution of the observed K+K- pairs are discussed in detail. In addition we calculate the Coulomb correction and possible effects of hadronic kaon potentials on the K+K- mass spectrum. Due to the large cross sections for reactions of the final state particles with the surrounding nuclear medium and the influence of the Coulomb potential we find no measurable sensitivity of the observables to the phi properties at finite baryon density.

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Importance of multi-mesonic fusion processes on (strange) antibaryon production

Sufficiently fast chemical equilibration of (strange) antibaryons in an environment of nucleons, pions and kaons during the course of a relativistic heavy ion collision can be understood by a `clustering' of mesons to build up baryon-antibaryon pairs. This multi-mesonic (fusion-type) process has to exist in medium due to the principle of detailed balance. Novel numerical calculations for a dynamical setup are presented. They show that - at maximum SPS energies - yields of each antihyperon specie are obtained which are consistent with chemical saturated populations of T approximately 150-160 MeV, in line with popular chemical freeze-out parameters extracted from thermal model analyses.

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Chemical Equilibration of Antihyperons

Rapid chemical equilibration of antihyperons by means of the interplay between strong annihilation on baryons and the corresponding backreactions of multi-mesonic (fusion-type) processes in the later, hadronic stage of an ultrarelativistic heavy ion collision will be discussed. Explicit rate calculations for a dynamical setup are presented. At maximum SPS energies yields of each antihyperon specie are obtained which are consistent with chemical saturated populations of $T \approx 150-160 $ MeV. The proposed picture supports dynamically the popular chemical freeze-out parameters extracted within thermal models.

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Energy Loss of High $\pT{}$ Hadrons by Final Hadronic State

In the context of the `jet quenching' phenomena typically materialization of the jet is assumed to take place in vacuum outside the reaction zone. On the other hand quantum mechanical estimates give a hadronization time on the order of only a few fm/c for jets materializing into hadrons with transverse momenta of $\pT{} \leq 10 GeV$, which thus should well take place inside the fireball. Typical (in-)elastic collisions of these high $\pT{}$ particles with the bulk of hadrons of the fireball have a rather low invariant mass and are thus nonperturbative. An analysis within an opacity expansion in the number of collisions by means of the FRITIOF collision scheme for various hadrons will be presented. It shows that late hadronic collisions can substantially account for the modification of the high $\pT{} $-spectrum observed for central collisions at RHIC.

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In-Medium Baryon Interactions and Hypernuclear Structure

We introduce a microscopic and relativistic theory describing free scattering and finite nuclei for the octet baryons in a consistent quantum field theoretical framework based on Dirac-Brueckner theory and nuclear mean-field. In a first quantitative approach - yet still heuristic for dealing with the $Λ$ hyperon - the quality of the description of finite (hyper)nuclei based on free meson exchange potentials is competitive with those from purely phenomenological relativistic mean-field calculations. In contrast to the latter our approach has the advantage of having a microscopic link to free interactions and complete control on which classes of diagrams are included. As a complementary way for determining hyperon-hyperon and hyperon-nucleon interactions the use of Hanbury-Brown-Twiss interferometry is discussed.

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A novel scenario for the production of antihyperons in relativistic heavy ion collisions

We elaborate on our recent suggestion on antihyperon production in relativistic heavy ion collisions by means of multi-mesonic (fusion-type) reactions. It will be shown that the (rare) antihyperons are driven towards chemical equilibrium with pions, nucleons and kaons on a timescale of 1--3 fm/c in a still moderately baryon-dense hadronic environment.

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Squeeze-out of nuclear matter in peripheral heavy-ion collisions and momentum-dependent effective interactions

We perform a systematic study of in-plane and out-of-plane proton and neutron flow from nucleus-nucleus collisions within the BUU transport approach employing different parameter sets for the mean-field potentials that can be characterized by the nuclear incompressibility and the stiffness of the momentum-dependent potential. We find that a simultaneous description of the experimental data from the BEVALAC and the SIS on both the nucleon squeeze-out $v_2$ and the in-plane flow $F$ at beam energies $E_{lab} = 0.15 ÷2$ AGeV requires a mean field with strong momentum dependence, i.e. an effective Landau mass $m^* \simeq 0.68 m_0$ at normal nuclear matter density $ρ_0=0.17$ fm$^{-3}$, where $m_0=0.938$ GeV is the bare nucleon mass. Some experimental data on the squeeze-out require an even stiffer momentum dependence ($m^* \approx 0.62 m_0$). All systems investigated are found to be compatible with $m^*/m_0 = 0.65 \pm 0.03$.

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Thermal and chemical equilibration of hadronic matter

We study thermal and chemical equilibration in 'infinite' hadron matter as well as in finite size relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions using a BUU cascade transport model with resonance and string degrees-of-freedom. The 'infinite' hadron matter is simulated within a cubic box employing periodic boundary conditions. The various equilibration times depend on baryon density and energy density and are much shorter for particles consisting of light quarks then for particles including strangeness. For kaons and antikaons the chemical equilibration time is found to be larger than $\simeq$ 40 fm/c for all baryon and energy densities considered. The inclusion of continuum excitations, i.e. hadron 'strings', leads to a limiting temperature of $T_s\simeq$ 150 MeV.

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Aspects of thermal and chemical equilibration of hadronic matter

We study thermal and chemical equilibration in 'infinite' hadron matter as well as in finite size relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions using a BUU cascade transport model that contains resonance and string degrees-of-freedom. The 'infinite' hadron matter is simulated within a cubic box with periodic boundary conditions. The various equilibration times depend on baryon density and energy density and are much shorter for particles consisting of light quarks then for particles including strangeness. For kaons and antikaons the chemical equilibration time is found to be larger than $\simeq$ 40 fm/c for all baryon and energy densities considered. The inclusion of continuum excitations, i.e. hadron 'strings', leads to a limiting temperature of $T_s\simeq$ 150 MeV. We, furthermore, study the expansion of a hadronic fireball after equilibration. The slope parameters of the particles after expansion increase with their mass; the pions leave the fireball much faster then nucleons and accelerate subsequently heavier hadrons by rescattering ('pion wind'). If the system before expansion is close to the limiting temperature $T_s$, the slope parameters for all particles after expansion practically do not depend on (initial) energy and baryon density. Finally, the equilibration in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collision is considered. Since the reaction time here is much shorter than the equilibration time for strangeness, a chemical equilibrium of strange particles in heavy-ion collisions is not supported by our transport calculations. However, the various particle spectra can approximately be described within the blast model.

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Quark phases in neutron stars and a "third family" of compact stars as a signature for phase transitions

The appearance of quark phases in the dense interior of neutron stars provides one possibility to soften the equation of state (EOS) of neutron star matter at high densities. This softening leads to more compact equilibrium configurations of neutron stars compared to pure hadronic stars of the same mass. We investigate the question to which amount the compactness of a neutron star can be attributed to the presence of a quark phase. For this purpose we employ several hadronic EOS in the framework of the relativistic mean-field (RMF) model and an extended MIT bag model to describe the quark phase. We find that - almost independent of the model parameters - the radius of a pure hadronic neutron star gets typically reduced by 20-30% if a pure quark phase in the center of the star does exist. For some EOS we furthermore find the possibility of a "third family" of compact stars which may exist besides the two known families of white dwarfs and neutron stars. We show how an experimental proof of the existence of a third family by mass and radius measurements may provide a unique signature for a phase transition inside neutron stars.

astro-ph↗

Langevin Interpretation of Kadanoff-Baym Equations

We show that the nonperturbative quantum transport equations, the `Kadanoff-Baym equations', can be understood as the ensemble average over stochastic equations of Langevin type. For this we couple a free scalar boson quantum field to an environmental heat bath with some given temperature T. The inherent presence of noise and dissipation related by the fluctuation-dissipation-theorem guarantees that the modes or particles become thermally populated on average in the long-time limit. This interpretation leads to a more intuitive physical picture of the process of thermalization and of the interpretation of the Kadanoff-Baym equations.

hep-ph↗

J/Psi Absorption Scenarios in Nuclear Collisions

We study the production of $c \bar{c}$ pairs and dimuons from hard collisions in nuclear reactions within the covariant transport approach HSD. Adopting 6 mb for the $c \bar{c}$-baryon cross section the data on $J/Ψ$ suppression in p + A reactions are reproduced in line with calculations based on the Glauber model. Furthermore, using $J/Ψ$ absorption cross sections with mesons above the $D\bar{D}$ threshold in the order of 1.5 - 3 mb we find that all data on $J/Ψ$ suppression from NA38/NA50 can be described without assuming the formation of a quark-gluon plasma. Alternatively, we also investigate an 'early'-comover absorption scenario where the $c \bar{c}$ pairs are dissociated in the color electric fields of neighboring strings. Again we find good agreement with the experimental data with an estimate for the string radius of $R_s \approx 0.2-0.25 fm$.

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Stochastic Disoriented Chiral Condensates

Applying a Langevin description of the linear sigma model we investigate four different scenarios for the evolution of a disoriented chiral condensate: annealing or quench with initial conditions governed by effective `light' or physical mass pions. We present pion number distributions estimated from the zero mode (i.e. k=0-field) component. The best DCC signal is expected for the quench scenario with initial conditions centered around zero as would be the case of effective light `pions' close to the phase transition. Our investigations support the idea of looking for DCC formation in individual events.

hep-ph↗