arXiv subjects

Joseph I. Kapusta

Publications and source records attributed to Joseph I. Kapusta.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Scaling of the Surface Free Energy as a Probe of the QCD Critical Region

The QCD phase diagram is expected to have a critical point that separates the crossover and first-order transition lines. A realistic model that incorporates phase boundary effects is essential for heavy ion simulations to isolate the experimental signatures of a critical point. We discuss how to construct such an equation of state, and study its critical behavior. The effect of the coefficient of surface energy on the size of the critical region is investigated. We found that with this construction and with the chosen background equation of state, the temperature must be within one percent of its critical value to observe the critical exponents. This makes it doubtful that the critical exponents can be measured in heavy ion collisions, though it may still be feasible to observe signatures of a first-order phase transition. The method presented here is general and can be utilized with any given equation of state to test the viability of observing critical exponents in experiments.

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arXiv2026

Causally connected regions in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Quantifying causal connections within fireballs resulting from high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions is pertinent to assessing the viability of several proposed mechanisms that directly influence particle production and correlations. Fireball causal connections have previously been studied in the context of 1+1 dimensional Bjorken flow. We expand into 3+1 dimensions using Gubser flow, which includes transverse expansion. Our findings suggest that the volume of these causally connected fireballs are on the order of 10 to 100 fm$^3$ for observables dependent on the formation of the light quark condensates, but could be larger for other observables.

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arXiv2026

Variations of the crossover and first-order phase transition curve in modeling the QCD equation of state

Lattice QCD calculations have shown that the transition from hadrons to quarks and gluons is a rapid crossover at $T = 155-160$ MeV at vanishing chemical potential. Many model calculations show that the transition is first-order at sufficiently high baryon chemical potential. It is then natural to expect the existence of a critical point where the crossover and first-order phase transition lines meet. We show how to embed a phase boundary that terminates at the critical point in a smooth background equation of state, using several different but closely related criteria, so as to yield the critical exponents and critical amplitude ratios expected of a transition in the 3D Ising and liquid-gas universality class. The crossover curves can be tuned to pass through experimental freeze-out data from heavy ion collisions at RHIC and the LHC. The resulting equations of state can be used in hydrodynamic simulations of these collisions to probe the existence of a critical point and corresponding first-order phase transition.

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arXiv2025

Relaxation times for disoriented isospin condensates in high energy heavy ion collisions

Fluctuations between charged and neutral kaons measured by the ALICE Collaboration in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC exceed conventional explanations. Previously it was shown that if the scalar condensate is accompanied by an electrically neutral isospin--1 field then the combination can produce large equilibrium fluctuations where $\langle \bar{u}u\rangle \ne \langle \bar{d}d\rangle$. Hadronizing strange and anti-strange quarks might then strongly fluctuate between charged ($u\bar{s}$ or $s\bar{u}$) and neutral ($d\bar{s}$ or $s\bar{d}$) kaons. Here we estimate the times for the condensates to achieve their equilibrium probability distributions within causal volumes in high energy heavy ion collisions. This is achieved by modeling the temperature dependence of the condensates, mesonic collective excitations, decay rates of the associated fields, and employing the Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations. Within this model, we find that the equilibration times are short compared with the expansion time, making disoriented isospin condensates a viable explanation for the anomalous fluctuations observed at the LHC.

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arXiv2024

Covariant formulation of spinodal decomposition in rapidly expanding quark gluon plasma

Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is expected to have a first order phase transition between the confined hadron gas and the deconfined quark gluon plasma at high baryon densities. This will result in phase boundary effects in the metastable and unstable regions. It is important to include these effects in phenomenological models of heavy ion collisions to identify experimental signatures of a phase transition. This requires building intuition on phase separation in rapidly expanding fluids. In this work we present the covariant equations of relativistic hydrodynamics with a phase boundary, provide prescriptions to extend the equation of state to metastable and unstable regions, and show the effects of spinodal separation in a Bjorken flow.

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arXiv2024

Disoriented isospin condensates may be the source of anomalous kaon correlations measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76$ TeV

The magnitude of fluctuations between charged and neutral kaons measured by the ALICE Collaboration in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC exceeds conventional explanation. Here it is shown that if the scalar condensate, which is typically associated with chiral symmetry, is accompanied by an isospin=1 field, then the combination can produce large fluctuations where $\langle \bar{u}u\rangle \ne \langle \bar{d}d\rangle$. Hadronizing strange and anti-strange quarks might then strongly fluctuate between charged ($u\bar{s}$ or $s\bar{u}$) and neutral ($d\bar{s}$ or $s\bar{d}$) kaons.

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arXiv2022

Stochastic hydrodynamics and hydro-kinetics: Similarities and differences

The hydro-kinetic formalism has been used as a complementary approach to solving the Stochastic Differential Equations (SDE) corresponding to noisy hydrodynamics. The hydro-kinetic formalism consists of a deterministic set of relaxation type equations that tracks the evolution of 2-point correlation functions of stochastic hydrodynamic quantities. Hence they are comparatively easier to solve than the SDEs, which are computationally intensive and need to deal with arbitrarily large gradients. This work compares the two approaches for the propagation and diffusion of conserved charge fluctuations in the Bjorken hydrodynamic model. For white noise, the two approaches agree. For colored Catteneo noise, which is causal, the two approaches diverge. This is because white noise only induces two-point correlations, while Catteneo noise also induces higher-order correlations. This difference is quantified from the effects of causal evolution and influence from higher-order correlations induced by the Catteneo noise.

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arXiv2022

Confronting anomalous kaon correlations measured in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76$ TeV

Measurements of the dynamical correlations between neutral and charged kaons in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 2.76$ TeV by the ALICE Collaboration display anomalous behavior relative to conventional heavy-ion collision simulators such as AMPT, EPOS, and HIJING. We consider other conventional statistical models, none of which can reproduce the magnitude and centrality dependence of the correlations. The data can be reproduced by coherent emission from domains which grow in number and volume with increasing centrality. We show that the energy released by condensation of strange quarks may be sufficient to explain the anomaly.

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arXiv2022

Sphaleron Transition Rates and the Chiral Magnetic Effect

The chiral magnetic effect is a novel quantum phenomenon proposed for high-energy nuclear collisions but which has yet to be observed. We quantify the axial charge relaxation time, due to sphalerons, which enters in simulations of this effect. An extrapolation of weak coupling calculations of the sphaleron rate yields rather different relaxation times than strong coupling AdS/CFT calculations. The AdS/CFT relaxation time is the larger one of the two by an order of magnitude, but the weak coupling relaxation time may not be reliable because it is only marginally bigger than the microscopic thermalization time. The role of quark masses has yet to be accurately assessed.

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arXiv2021

Perspective on Tsallis Statistics for Nuclear and Particle Physics

This is a concise introduction to the topic of nonextensive Tsallis statistics meant especially for those interested in its relation to high energy proton-proton, proton-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions. The three types of Tsallis statistics are reviewed. Only one of them is consistent with the fundamental hypothesis of equilibrium statistical mechanics. The single particle distributions associated with it, namely Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac, and Bose-Einstein, are derived. These are not equilibrium solutions to the conventional Boltzmann transport equation which must be modified in a rather nonintuitive manner for them to be so. Nevertheless the Boltzmann limit of the Tsallis distribution is extremely efficient in representing a wide variety of single particle distributions in high energy proton-proton, proton-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions with only three parameters, one of them being the so-called nonextensitivity parameter $q$. This distribution interpolates between an exponential at low transverse energy, reflecting thermal equilibrium, to a power law at high transverse energy, reflecting the asymptotic freedom of QCD. It should not be viewed as a fundamental new parameter representing nonextensive behavior in these collisions.

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arXiv2020

Spin-Vorticity Coupling for Massive Vector Mesons

Recent experiments at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have indicated that hadrons containing strange quarks produced in non-central heavy ion collisions can be polarized. We investigate in detail the coupling of spin and vorticity for electrically neutral, massive vector bosons using the Proca equation, and provide the nonrelativistic reduction of the field equations via a single Foldy--Wouthuysen transformation. We find that the resulting Hamiltonian is not-Hermitian, but ${\cal PT}$ invariant, and involves a spin dependent term $\textstyle{\frac{1}{2}} s_z \hbar ω$ to leading order in vorticity. We also calculate further relativistic and quantum corrections to the Hamiltonian.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Spin versus Helicity Equilibration Times and Lagrangian for Strange Quarks in Rotating Quark-Gluon Plasma

Measurements of the net polarization of $Λ$ and $\barΛ$ hyperons at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have stimulated much interest in how strange quarks might align their spin with the vorticity of the matter created in heavy ion collisions. We calculate the Lagrangian in the rest frame of a fluid element undergoing rotation with angular velocity $ω$ including photon and gluon fields. There is an additional coupling between the quarks and the gauge fields proportional to $ω$, but this vertex does not change the spin of the quarks. We also show that the times to equilibrate quark helicity and spin parallel to the vorticity are the same so long as $ω$ is small compared to the temperature.

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arXiv2020

Calculating Fluctuations and Self-Correlations Numerically for Causal Charge Diffusion in Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

We study the propagation and diffusion of electric charge fluctuations in the Bjorken hydrodynamic model with both white and Catteneo noise using purely numerical methods. We show that a global lattice of noise fluctuations is required to fully calculate the two-point correlators of charge. We solve the stochastic differential equations that arise from the charge conservation equation on the lattice. We explicitly identify the self-correlation term in the case of Catteneo noise and provide a physical interpretation. We provide a numerical recipe to remove this contribution from the full two-point correlators. Finally, we calculate the balance functions for charged hadrons. By limiting the speed of signal propagation, we observe the expected narrowing of the balance functions after removing the self-correlations.

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arXiv2019

Randall-Sundrum Model with a Dilaton Field at Finite Temperature

We find exact finite temperature solutions to $d=5$ Einstein-dilaton gravity with black branes and a Randall--Sundrum 3-brane. We show that there exists a unique generating superpotential for these models. The location of the black brane and the associated Hawking temperature depend on the value of the the 3-brane tension while other parameters are held fixed. The thermodynamics of these solutions are presented, from which we show that the entropy satisfies $S<\text{Vol}(\mathbb{R}^3)/4G_5$. We demonstrate that in a certain limit the gauge dual of this theory effectively reduces to $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM at finite temperature on $S^1\times\mathbb{R}^3$

hep-th↗

arXiv2019

Is Hyperon Polarization in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions Connected to Axial U(1) Symmetry Breaking at High Temperature?

Experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have measured the net polarization of $Λ$ and $\barΛ$ hyperons and attributed it to a coupling between their spin and the vorticity of the fluid created in heavy ion collisions, but how the spin comes to equilibrium with vorticity is an open problem. Recently we found that vorticity fluctuations and helicity flip of strange quarks in quark-gluon plasma through perturbative QCD processes resulted in equilibration times far too long to be relevant. Here we consider the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model with the inclusion of the six-quark Kobayashi--Maskawa--'t Hooft interaction which breaks axial U(1). Using instanton inspired models for the temperature dependence of the axial symmetry breaking, we find that constituent strange quarks can reach spin equilibrium at temperatures below about 170 MeV, just before they hadronize to form hyperons.

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arXiv2019

Relaxation Time for Strange Quark Spin in Rotating Quark-Gluon Plasma

Experiments at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) have measured the net polarization of $Λ$ and $\barΛ$ hyperons and attributed it to a coupling between their spin and the vorticity of the fluid created in heavy ion collisions. Equipartition of energy is generally assumed, but the dynamical mechanism which polarizes them has yet to be determined. We consider two such mechanisms: vorticity fluctuations and helicity flip in scatterings between strange quarks and light quarks and gluons. With reasonable parameters both mechanisms lead to equilibration times orders of magnitude too large to be relevant to heavy ion collisions. Our conclusion is that strange quark spin or helicity is unchanged from the time they are created to the time they hadronize. A corollary is that vorticity fluctuations do not affect the hyperon spin either.

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arXiv2019

Large Baryon Densities Achievable in High Energy Heavy Ion Collisions Outside the Central Rapidity Region

Nuclei are nearly transparent to each other when they collide at high energy, but the collisions do produce high energy density matter in the central rapidity region where most experimental measurements are made. What happens to the receding nuclear fireballs? We calculate the energy loss of the nuclei using the color glass condensate model. We then use a simple space-time picture of the collision to calculate the baryon and energy densities of the receding fireballs. For central collisions of large nuclei at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the CERN Large Hadron Collider we find baryon densities more than ten times that of normal nuclear matter. These results provide initial conditions for subsequent hydrodynamic evolution and could test the equation of state at very high baryon densities.

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arXiv2018

QCD matter with a crossover and a first-order phase transition

We present a phenomenological parametrization of the phase diagram of QCD as a function of temperature $T$ and baryochemical potential $μ$. The parametrization is constructed by introducing a switching function which controls the nature of the transition between the Hadron-Resonance Gas (HRG) and Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) phases of nuclear matter, such that the equation of state (EOS) possesses a rapid crossover at large $T$ and small $μ$, a critical point placed anywhere along the phase transition line, and a first-order transition at small $T$ and large $μ$. This EOS offers a convenient phenomenological tool for assessing the possible effects of the conjectured QCD critical point on heavy-ion observables.

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