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M. A. Stephanov

Publications and source records attributed to M. A. Stephanov.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2020

Quartic cumulant of baryon number in the presence of QCD critical point

In the context of the ongoing search for the QCD critical point at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider, we study the equation of state near the critical point in the temperature and baryon chemical potential plane. We use the parametric representation introduced in earlier literature, which maps the universal 3D Ising equation of state onto the QCD phase diagram using several non-universal parameters. We focus on the quartic cumulant of the baryon number, or baryon number susceptibility~$χ_4^B$, which can be accessed experimentally via net-proton fluctuation kurtosis measurements. It was originally predicted, through universality arguments based on the {\em leading} singular contribution, that $χ_4^B$ and net-proton kurtosis should show a specific non-monotonic behavior due to the critical point. In particular, when following the freeze-out curve on the phase diagram by decreasing beam energy, the kurtosis is expected to dip, and then peak, when the beam energy scan passes close to the critical point. We study the effects of the non-universal and thus far unknown parameters of the Ising-to-QCD mapping on the behavior of~$χ_4^B$. We find that, while the peak remains a solid feature, the presence of the critical point does not necessarily cause a dip in $χ_4^B$ on the freezeout line {\em below} the transition temperature. The critical point contribution to the dip appears only for a narrow set of mapping parameters, when subleading singular terms are sufficiently suppressed.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2012

Chiral Kinetic Theory

We derive the non-equilibrium kinetic equation describing the motion of chiral massless particles in the regime where it can be considered classically. We show that the Berry monopole which appears at the origin of the momentum space due to level crossing is responsible for the chiral magnetic and vortical effects.

hep-th↗
arXiv2011

Conductivity and quasinormal modes in holographic theories

We show that in field theories with a holographic dual the retarded Green's function of a conserved current can be represented as a convergent sum over the quasinormal modes. We find that the zero-frequency conductivity is related to the sum over quasinormal modes and their high-frequency asymptotics via a sum rule. We derive the asymptotics of the quasinormal mode frequencies and their residues using the phase-integral (WKB) approach and provide analytic insight into the existing numerical observations concerning the asymptotic behavior of the spectral densities.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2011

On the sign of kurtosis near the QCD critical point

We point out that the quartic cumulant (and kurtosis) of the order parameter fluctuations is universally negative when the critical point is approached on the crossover side of the phase separation line. As a consequence, the kurtosis of a fluctuating observable, such as, e.g., proton multiplicity, may become smaller than the value given by independent Poisson statistics. We discuss implications for the Beam Energy Scan program at RHIC.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2010

Evolution of fluctuations near QCD critical point

We propose to describe the time evolution of quasi-stationary fluctuations near QCD critical point by a system of stochastic Boltzmann-Langevin-Vlasov-type equations. We derive the equations and study the system analytically in the linearized regime. Known results for equilibrium stationary fluctuations as well as the critical scaling of diffusion coefficient are reproduced. We apply the approach to the long-standing question of the fate of the critical point fluctuations during the hadronic rescattering stage of the heavy-ion collision after chemical freezeout. We find that if conserved particle number fluctuations survive the rescattering, so do, under a certain additional condition, the fluctuations of non-conserved quantities, such as mean transverse momentum. We derive a simple analytical formula for the magnitude of this "memory" effect.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2008

Non-Gaussian fluctuations near the QCD critical point

We study the effect of the QCD critical point on non-Gaussian moments (cumulants) of fluctuations of experimental observables in heavy-ion collisions. We find that these moments are very sensitive to the proximity of the critical point, as measured by the magnitude of the correlation length xi. For example, the cubic central moment of multiplicity ~ xi^4.5 and the quartic cumulant ~ xi^7. We estimate the magnitude of critical point contributions to non-Gaussian fluctuations of pion and proton multiplicities.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2008

Relativistic viscous hydrodynamics, conformal invariance, and holography

We consider second-order viscous hydrodynamics in conformal field theories at finite temperature. We show that conformal invariance imposes powerful constraints on the form of the second-order corrections. By matching to the AdS/CFT calculations of correlators, and to recent results for Bjorken flow obtained by Heller and Janik, we find three (out of five) second-order transport coefficients in the strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We also discuss how these new coefficents can arise within the kinetic theory of weakly coupled conformal plasmas. We point out that the Mueller-Israel-Stewart theory, often used in numerical simulations, does not contain all allowed second-order terms and, frequently, terms required by conformal invariance.

hep-th↗
arXiv2008

A Random Matrix Study of the QCD Sign Problem

We investigate the severity of the sign problem in a random matrix model for QCD at finite temperature T and baryon chemical potential mu. We obtain analytic expression for the average phase factor -- the measure of the severity of the sign problem at arbitrary T and mu. We observe that the sign problem becomes less severe as the temperature is increased. We also find the domain where the sign problem is maximal -- the average phase factor is zero, which is related to the pion condensation phase in the QCD with finite isospin chemical potential. We find that, in the matrix model we studied, the critical point is located inside the domain of the maximal sign problem, making the point inaccessible to conventional reweighting techniques. We observe and describe the scaling behavior of the size and shape of the pion condensation near the chiral limit.

hep-lat↗
arXiv2008

Axial anomaly and magnetism of nuclear and quark matter

We consider the response of the QCD ground state at finite baryon density to a strong magnetic field B. We point out the dominant role played by the coupling of neutral Goldstone bosons, such as pi^0, to the magnetic field via the axial triangle anomaly. We show that, in vacuum, above a value of B ~ m_pi^2/e, a metastable object appears - the pi^0 domain wall. Because of the axial anomaly, the wall carries a baryon number surface density proportional to B. As a result, for B ~ 10^{19} G a stack of parallel pi^0 domain walls is energetically more favorable than nuclear matter at the same density. Similarly, at higher densities, somewhat weaker magnetic fields of order B ~ 10^{17}-10^{18} G transform the color-superconducting ground state of QCD into new phases containing stacks of axial isoscalar (eta or eta') domain walls. We also show that a quark-matter state known as ``Goldstone current state,'' in which a gradient of a Goldstone field is spontaneously generated, is ferromagnetic due to the axial anomaly. We estimate the size of the fields created by such a state in a typical neutron star to be of order 10^{14}-10^{15} G.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2007

On the phase diagram of QCD at finite isospin density

Using a canonical formalism, we determine the equation of state and the phase diagram of eight-flavour QCD, as a function of temperature and isospin density. Two mechanisms are at work: Bose condensation of pions at high density, and deconfinement at high temperature. We study their interplay and find that on our small and coarse lattice the first order deconfinement transition appears to end at a critical point at finite density. We investigate the strength of the overlap and of the sign problems and discuss implications for the baryonic density case.

hep-lat↗
arXiv2007

Deconstruction of Unparticles

We discuss properties of hypothetical scale invariant (unparticle) matter by viewing it as a tower of massive particles. We show how peculiar properties of unparticles emerge in the limit when the mass spacing parameter Delta vanishes. We explain why unparticle cannot decay in this limit and how, for finite Delta, the decays manifest themselves in a relation between the reconstructed invariant mass and vertex displacement. We describe a model field theory in AdS5 which explicitly implements the deconstruction procedure by truncating the extra dimension to size of order 1/Delta.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2006

QCD phase diagram: an overview

The aim of this review is to summarize the contemporary understanding of the QCD phase diagram as a function of temperature and baryo-chemical potential. The focus is on recent theoretical developments due to lattice simulations of the phase diagram.

hep-lat↗
arXiv2006

Phase diagram of a cold polarized Fermi gas

We propose a phase diagram for a cold polarized atomic Fermi gas with zero-range interaction. We identify four main phases in the plane of density and polarization: the superfluid phase, the normal phase, the gapless superfluid phase, and the modulated phase. We argue that there exists a Lifshitz point at the junction of the normal, the gapless superfluid, and the modulated phases, and a splitting point where the superfluid, the gapless superfluid, and the modulated phases meet. We show that the physics near the splitting point is universal and derive an effective field theory describing it. We also show that subregions with one and two Fermi surfaces exist within the normal and the gapless superfluid phases.

cond-mat.other↗
arXiv2006

QCD Critical Point and Complex Chemical Potential Singularities

The thermodynamic singularities of QCD in the plane of complex baryo-chemical potential mu are studied. Predictions are made using scaling and universality arguments in the vicinity of the massless quark limit. The results are illustrated by a calculation of complex mu singularities in a random matrix model at finite temperature. Implications for lattice QCD simulations aimed at locating the QCD critical point are discussed.

hep-lat↗
arXiv2005

Random Matrices

We review elementary properties of random matrices and discuss widely used mathematical methods for both hermitian and nonhermitian random matrix ensembles. Applications to a wide range of physics problems are summarized. This paper originally appeared as an article in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2004

Dynamic universality class of the QCD critical point

We show that the dynamic universality class of the QCD critical point is that of model H and discuss the dynamic critical exponents. We show that the baryon diffusion rate vanishes at the critical point. The dynamic critical index $z$ is close to 3.

hep-ph↗
arXiv2004

QCD and dimensional deconstruction

Motivated by phenomenological models of hidden local symmetries and the ideas of dimensional deconstruction and gauge/gravity duality, we consider the model of an "open moose". Such a model has a large number K of hidden gauge groups as well as a global chiral symmetry. In the continuum limit K->infinity the model becomes a 4+1 dimensional theory of a gauge field propagating in a dilaton background and an external space-time metric with two boundaries. We show that the model reproduces several well known phenomenological and theoretical aspects of low-energy hadron dynamics. We derive the general formulas for the mass spectrum, the decay constants of the pion and vector mesons, and the couplings between mesons. We then consider two simple realizations, one with a flat metric and another with a "cosh" metric interpolating between two AdS boundaries. For the pion form-factor, the single pole rho-meson dominance is exact in the latter case and approximate in the former case. We discover that an AdS/CFT-like prescription emerges in the computation of current-current correlators. We speculate on the role of the model in the theory dual to QCD.

hep-ph↗