arXiv subjects

E. Shuryak

Publications and source records attributed to E. Shuryak.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv1999

Thermal Dilepton Radiation at Intermediate Masses at the CERN-SpS

We investigate the significance of thermal dilepton radiation in the intermediate-mass region in heavy-ion reactions at CERN-SpS energies. Within a thermal fireball model for the space-time evolution, the radiation from hot matter is found to dominate over hard 'background' processes (Drell-Yan and open charm) up to invariant masses of about 2 GeV, with a rather moderate fraction emerging from early stages with temperatures $T\simeq 175-200$ MeV associated with deconfined matter. Further including a schematic acceptance for the NA50 experiment we find good agreement with the observed enhancement in the region 1.5 GeV~$<M_{μμ}<$~3 GeV. In particular, there is no need to invoke any anomalous open charm enhancement.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1999

Event-by-Event Fluctuations in Heavy Ion Collisions and the QCD Critical Point

The event-by-event fluctuations of suitably chosen observables in heavy ion collisions at SPS, RHIC and LHC can tell us about the thermodynamic properties of the hadronic system at freeze-out. By studying these fluctuations as a function of varying control parameters, it is possible to learn much about the phase diagram of QCD. As a timely example, we stress the methods by which present experiments at the CERN SPS can locate the second-order critical endpoint of the first-order transition between quark-gluon plasma and hadron matter. Those event-by-event signatures which are characteristic of freeze-out in the vicinity of the critical point will exhibit nonmonotonic dependence on control parameters. We focus on observables constructed from the multiplicity and transverse momenta of charged pions. We first consider how the event-by-event fluctuations of such observables are affected by Bose-Einstein correlations, by resonances which decay after freeze-out and by fluctuations in the transverse flow velocity. We compare our thermodynamic predictions for such noncritical event-by-event fluctuations with NA49 data, finding broad agreement. We then focus on effects due to thermal contact between the observed pions and a heat bath with a given (possibly singular) specific heat, and due to the direct coupling between the critical fluctuations of the sigma field and the observed pions. We also discuss the effect of the pions produced in the decay of sigma particles just above threshold after freeze-out on the inclusive pion spectrum and on multiplicity fluctuations. We estimate the size of these nonmonotonic effects which appear near the critical point, including restrictions imposed by finite size and finite time, and conclude that they should be easily observable.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1999

Signatures of the Tricritical Point in QCD

Several approaches to QCD with two massless quarks at finite temperature T and baryon chemical potential mu suggest the existence of a tricritical point on the boundary of the phase with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. In QCD with massive quarks there is then a critical point at the end of a first order transition line. We discuss possible experimental signatures of this point, which provide information about its location and properties. We propose a combination of event-by-event observables, including suppressed fluctuations in T and mu and, simultaneously, enhanced fluctuations in the multiplicity of soft pions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1998

Heavy quark potential in the instanton liquid model

We study the heavy quark potential in the instanton liquid model by carefully measuring Wilson loops out to a distance of order 3$fm$. A random instanton ensemble with a fixed radius $ρ$ = 1/3$fm$ generates a potential $V(R)$ growing very slowly at large $R$. In contrast, a more realistic size distribution growing as $ρ^6$ at small $ρ$ and decaying as $ρ^{-5}$ at large $ρ$, leads to a potential which grows linearly with $R$. The string tension, however, is only about 1/10 of the phenomenological value.

hep-lat↗

arXiv1998

Partial Summary of Section a (CONFINEMENT Mechanism, Flux Tubes and String)

An overview of some issues discussed is given, including the following ones: (i) the mechanism of confinement, (ii) the structure of the string, (iii) non-perturbative glue in vacuum and hadrons, and (v) quark-hadron duality. In doing so I try to indicate issues important for JLab. Finally I discuss another issue debated during this conference, namely (vi) whether one can use some common effective potential for description of various hadrons, using heavy quarkonia as an example.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1998

Implication of Exact SUSY Gauge Couplings for QCD

The phase structure of SUSY gauge theories can be very different from their nonsupersymmetric counterparts. Nonetheless, there is interesting information which might be gleaned from detailed investigation of these theories. In particular, we study the precise meaning of the strong interaction scale $Λ$. We ask whether one can meaningfully apply naive dimensional analysis and also ask whether the study of supersymmetric theories can shed light on the apparent discrepancy between the perturbative scale $Λ_{QCD}$ and the ``chiral lagrangian'' scale $Λ_χ$. We show that in N=1 supersymmetric Yang Mills theory, ``naive dimensional analysis'' seems to work well, with $Λ_χ$ consistently equal to the scale at which the perturbatively evolved physical coupling becomes of order $4 π$. We turn to N=2 theories to understand better the effect of instantons in accounting for the QCD discrepancy between scales. In N=2 supersymmetric SU(2) the instanton corrections are known to all orders from the Seiberg-Witten solution and give rise to a finite scale ratio between the scale at which the perturbatively evolved and ``nonperturbatively evolved'' couplings blow up. Correspondingly, instanton effects are important even when the associated perturbatively evolved gauge coupling only gives $α$ of order 1 (rather than $4 π$). We compare the N=2 result to instanton-induced corrections in QCD, evaluated using lattice data and the instanton liquid model, and find a remarkably similar behavior.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1998

Instantons in QCD

We review the theory and phenomenology of instantons in QCD. After a general overview, we provide a pedagogical introduction to semi-classical methods in quantum mechanics and field theory. The main part of the review summarizes our understanding of the instanton liquid in QCD and the role of instantons in generating the spectrum of light hadrons. We also discuss properties of instantons at finite temperature and the chiral phase transition. We give an overview over the importance of instantons in some other models, in particular two dimensional sigma models, electroweak theory and supersymmetric QCD.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1998

$J/ψ$ suppression in heavy ion collsions and the QCD phase transition

We suggest that the new regime of $J/ψ$ suppression in Pb-Pb collisions found by the NA50 experiment at CERN is the result of non-trivial space-time evolution due to specific behavior of the Equation of State (EOS) near the QCD phase transition. We also study another suppression channel, the conversion of $J/ψ$ into $η_c$ during the late cool hadronic stage, and find it rather inefficient.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1997

Equation of State, Radial Flow and Freeze-out in High Energy Heavy Ion Collisions

We have shown that recent experimental data on radial flow, both from AGS and SPS energies, are in agreement with the Equation of State (EOS) including the QCD phase transition. New hydro-kinetic model (HKM) is developed, which incorporates hydrodynamical treatment of expansion and proper kinetics of the freeze-out. We show that the freeze-out surfaces for different secondaries and different collisions are very different, and they are not at all isotherms (as was assumed in most previous hydro works). Comparison of HKM results with cascade-based event generator RQMD is also made in some details: we found that both EOS and flow are in rather good agreement, while the space-time picture is still somewhat different.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1997

QCD with Large Number of Quarks: Effects of the Instanton -- Anti-instanton Pairs

We calculate the contribution of the instanton -- anti-instanton ($I\bar I$) pairs to the vacuum energy of QCD-like theories with $N_f$ light fermions using the saddle point method. We find a qualitative change of the behavior: for $N_f \ge 6$ it starts to oscillate with $N_f$. Similar behaviour was known for quantum mechanical systems interacting with fermions. We discuss the possible consequences of this phenomenon, and its relation to the mechanism of chiral symmetry breaking in these theories. We also discuss the asymptotics of the perturbative series associated with the $I\bar I$ contribution, comparing our results with those in literature.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1996

The Phases of QCD

In the recent years we have learned that light quarks play a crucial role in QCD-like theories, transforming it to many different phases. We review what is known about them, both from lattice and non-lattice approaches. A particularly simple mechanism of the QCD chiral restoration phase transition is discussed first: it suggests that it is a transition from randomly placed tunneling events (instantons) at low T to strongly localized tunneling-anti-tunneling pairs at high T. Many features of the transition found on the lattice can be explained in this simple picture. Very relevant for RHIC, this approach predicts a strong non-perturbative interaction between quarks $above$ the phase transition. It also predicts that QGP-like phase sets in at $zero$ temperature, provided few more light quark flavors are added to QCD. Finally, we also discuss possible experimental signatures of the QCD phase transition. One issue is CERN dilepton data, possibly related with ``dropping'' masses of $ρ, A_1$ mesons. Another is direct manifestation of a $softeness$ of EOS (smallness of pressure/energy density) in the phase transition region in flow and even the global lifetime of the system.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1996

Can dileptons be observed in heavy ion collisions at RHIC?

Both dilepton and charm production at RHIC are considered to be important signatures for Quark-Gluon Plasma production. Recently it was argued by S.Gavin, P.L.McGaughey,P.V. Ruuskanen and R.Vogt that the background from semileptonic correlated charm decays is so large that it makes dilepton measurements virtually impossible. We show that this conclusion in fact is in fact reversed if the energy loss due to secondary interaction of charmed quarks is included.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1996

Flow at AGS Energies: A Barometer for High Density Effects?

Preliminary data on transverse energy `flow' and event asymmetries reported by the E877(814) collaborations are compared to ARC model calculations for Au+Au at full AGS beam energy. ARC triple differential cross-sections for protons and pions are presented. Proton flow is produced in ARC, with the maximum in-plane momentum about 120 MeV/c. For central events the directed momentum for pions is near zero, consistent with experiment. Pion momentum opposite to the nucleons' is evident in a peripheral sample, however, indicating that this pion `anti-flow' involves absorption by `spectator' matter. `Squeeze-out' of protons in central events at mid-rapidity is suggested by the ARC distributions.

nucl-th↗

arXiv1996

A Mean Field Approach To The Instanton-Induced Effect Close To The QCD Phase Transition

In the instanton models the chiral phase transition is driven by a transition from random instanton-antiinstanton liquid and correlated instanton-antiinstanton molecules. So far this phenomenon was studied by numerical simulations, while we develop alternative semi-analytic approach. For two massless quark flavors, both instantons and ``molecules" generate specific 4-fermion effective interactions. After those are derived, we determine the temperature dependence of the thermodynamic quantities, the quark condensate and the fraction of molecules using standard mean field method. Using Bethe-Salpeter equation, we calculate T-dependence of mesonic correlation functions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1994

The Chiral Phase Transition and Instanton Anti-instanton Molecules

We explore the idea that the chiral phase transition in QCD can be described as a transition from a disordered instanton liquid to a strongly correlated phase of polarized instanton anti-instanton molecules. We find a number of non perturbative effects caused by the presence of instantons above T_c, among them the fact that instantons contribute to the euquation of state. We also study how instantons affect the propagation of light quarks at high temperature and determine the spacelike screening masses for mesons and baryons. We derive the corresponding effective interaction and find that the interaction in the scalar-pseudoscalar channel is attractive and four times stronger than the one in the vector-axial-vector channel, in agreement with recent lattice QCD simulations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1994

The Instanton Density at Finite Temperatures

For {\it low} T new strict results for the instanton density n(T) are reported. Using the PCAC methods, we express n(T) in terms of {\it vacuum} average values of certain operators, times their {\it calculated} T-dependence. At high T, we discuss the {\it applicability} limits of the perturbative results. We further speculate about possible behaviour of n(T) at $T\sim T_c$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv1993

QCD correlation functions and instantons

QCD point-to-point correlation functions at distances .2-1 fm are very different for different channels, and they tell us a lot about inter-quark interactions. Recent studies based on experimental data, 'instanton liquid' approach and lattice measurements are reviewed. Agreement between all of them show that instanton-induced forces dominate the light quark physics, and new findings by Negele et al, that {\it hadrons survive 'cooling'}, make this statement obvious. We also argue that {\it chiral symmetery restoration} is due to breaking of the 'instanton liquid' into {\it polarized} 'instanton molecules'. % For Lattice-93 proceedings, figures and % hard copies available at request, sorry.

hep-lat↗

arXiv1993

Gluon multiplication in high energy heavy ion collisions

Hot gluons are the dominant components of the QCD plasma to be formed in future high energy heavy ion experiments. In this paper we study the elementary processes in the plasma medium for gluon multiplication based on all orders of the tree-diagrams in perturbative QCD. When applying to the chemical equilibration in the expanding system, we found that the gluons reaches chemical equilibrium well within its plasma phase. The inclusion of all the next-to-leading order processes makes the equilibration considerably faster than the simple $gg\leftrightarrow ggg$ one considered previously.

hep-ph↗