arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Marlene Nahrgang.
Observables of heavy-quark azimuthal correlations in heavy-ion collisions are a new and promising tool for the investigation of the in-medium energy loss. We explore the potential of these observables to discriminate the collisional and radiative contributions within a hybrid EPOS+MC@sHQ transport approach.
The suppression of D mesons in non-central heavy-ion collisions is investigated. The anisotropy in collisions at finite impact parameter leads to an ordering of all-angle, in- and out-of-plane nuclear modification factors due to the different in-medium path lengths. Within our MC@sHQ+EPOS model of heavy-quark propagation in the QGP we demonstrate that fluctuating initial conditions lead to an effective reduction of the energy loss of heavy quarks, which is seen in a larger nuclear modification factor at intermediate and high transverse momenta. The elliptic flow at small transverse momenta is reduced.
We investigate how the possible existence of hadronic bound states above the deconfinement transition temperature $T_c$ affects heavy-quark observables like the nuclear modification factor, the elliptic flow and azimuthal correlations. Lattice QCD calculations suggest that above $T_c$ the effective degrees of freedom might not be exclusively partonic but that a certain fraction of hadronic degrees of freedom might already form at higher temperatures. This is an interesting questions by itself but also has a strong influence on other probes of the strongly interacting matter produced in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. A substantial fraction of hadronic bound states above $T_c$ reduces on average the interaction of the heavy quarks with colored constituents of the medium. We find that all studied observables are highly sensitive to the active degrees of freedom in the quark-gluon plasma.
According to a fluid dynamic expansion of the fireball we investigate how the inhomogeneity of the system influences the chiral phase transition of QCD. We compare the averaged values of the order parameter in equilibrium with that of a homogeneous system. If the temperature is averaged over a certain region of the fireball the corresponding correlation length does not diverge in an expansion with a critical point.
We present a fully dynamical model to study nonequilibrium effects in both the chiral and the deconfinement phase transition. The sigma field and the Polyakov loop as the corresponding order parameters are propagated by Langevin equations of motion. The locally thermalized background is provided by a fluid of quarks and antiquarks. Allowing for an exchange of energy and momentum through dissipative and stochastic processes we ensure that the total energy of the coupled system remains conserved. We study its relaxational dynamics in different quench scenarios and are able to observe critical slowing down as well as the enhancement of long wavelength modes at the critical point. During the fluid dynamical expansion of a hot plasma fireball typical nonequilibrium effects like supercooling and domain formation occur when the system evolves through the first order phase transition.
We study nonequilibrium effects at the QCD phase transition within the framework of Polyakov loop extended chiral fluid dynamics. The quark degrees of freedom act as a locally equilibrated heat bath for the sigma field and a dynamical Polyakov loop. Their evolution is described by a Langevin equation with dissipation and noise. At a critical point we observe the formation of long-range correlations after equilibration. During a hydrodynamical expansion nonequilibrium fluctuations are enhanced at the first order phase transition compared to the critical point.
In this contribution to the Quark Matter 2012 conference, we study whether energy loss models established for RHIC energies to describe the quenching of heavy quarks can be applied at LHC with the same success. We also benefit from the larger $p_T$-range accessible at this accelerator to test the impact of gluon damping on observables such as the nuclear modification factor.
We discuss the temperature dependence of the scaled jet quenching parameter of hot gluonic matter within a quasiparticle approach. A pronounced maximum in the vicinity of the transition temperature is observed, where the ratio of the scaled jet quenching parameter and the inverse specific shear viscosity increases above typical values for weakly coupled systems.
We explore the potential of net-baryon, net-proton and net-charge kurtosis measurements to investigate the properties of hot and dense matter created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Contrary to calculations in a grand canonical ensemble we explicitly take into account exact electric and baryon charge conservation on an event-by-event basis. This drastically limits the width of baryon fluctuations. A simple model to account for this is to assume a grand-canonical distribution with a sharp cut-off at the tails. We present baseline predictions of the energy dependence of the net-baryon, net-proton and net-charge kurtosis for central ($b\leq 2.75$ fm) Pb+Pb/Au+Au collisions from $E_{lab}=2A$ GeV to $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV from the UrQMD model. While the net-charge kurtosis is compatible with values around zero, the net-baryon number decreases to large negative values with decreasing beam energy. The net-proton kurtosis becomes only slightly negative for low $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$.
In this contribution, we present some predictions for the production of D and B mesons in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC energies and confront them with experimental results obtained so far by the STAR, PHENIX, ALICE and CMS collaborations. We next discuss some preliminary results obtained with an improved description of the medium based on EPOS initial conditions, and its possible implications on the nuclear modification factor and on the elliptic flow of heavy quarks.
An enhanced antiLambda/antiproton ratio in heavy-ion relative to p+p collisions has been proposed as one of the signatures for the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) formation. A significantly large (antiLambda+antiSigma0+1.1*antiSigma-)/antiproton ratio of 3.5 has been observed in the mid-rapidity and low transverse momentum region in central Au+Au collisions at the nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 4.9 GeV at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS). This is an order of magnitude larger than the values in peripheral Au+Au collisions and p+p collisions at the corresponding energy. By using the Ultra-relativistic Quantum Molecular Dynamics (UrQMD) transport model, we demonstrate that the observed large ratio can be explained by strong absorption of antiprotons (~99.9%) and antiLambdas (~99%) in dense nuclear matter created in central collisions. We find within the model that the initial antiLambda/antiproton ratio, mainly from string fragmentation, does not depend on the collision centrality, and is consistent with that observed in p+p collisions. This suggests that the observed large (antiLambda+antiSigma0+1.1*antiSigma-)/antiproton ratio at the AGS does not necessarily imply the formation of the QGP. We further study the excitation function of the ratio in UrQMD, which may help in the search and study of the QGP.
We present a dynamic model based on the linear sigma model with constituent quarks that allows for studying the explicit propagation of fluctuations at a chiral critical point and a first-order phase transition. The coupled dynamics of the sigma field and the quarks is derived selfconsistently. Hereby, the sigma field evolves according to a semiclassical Langevin equation of motion, while the evolution of the quarks is described fluid dynamically in order to model the expansion of a hot fireball in heavy-ion collisions. Dissipative processes and fluctuations in the Langevin equation are allowed under the assumption of energy-momentum conservation of the coupled system. We study the evolution of the constituent quark masses in this nonequilibrium set up.
We give a general overview about the approaches to study the phase diagram of QCD. Thereafter, we examine the evolution of a fireball in a chiral fluid dynamic model including nonequilibrium effects.
We investigate the nonequilibrium evolution of the sigma field coupled to a fluid dynamic expansion of a hot fireball to model the chiral phase transition in heavy-ion collisions. The dissipative processes and fluctuations are allowed under the assumption that the total energy of the coupled system is conserved. We use the linear sigma model with constituent quarks to investigate the effects of the chiral phase transition on the equilibration and excitation of the sigma modes. The quark fluid acts as a heat bath in local thermal equilibrium and the sigma field evolves according to a semiclassical stochastic Langevin equation of motion. The effects of supercooling and reheating in a first order phase transition are observed when the sigma field relaxes to equilibrium with the quark fluid. Nonequilibrium fluctuations at the first order phase transition lead to an increase in the intensity of sigma fluctuations in comparison to a scenario with a critical point.
We investigate the relaxational dynamics of the order parameter of chiral symmetry breaking, the sigma mean-field, with a heat bath consisting of quarks and antiquarks. A semiclassical stochastic Langevin equation of motion is obtained from the linear sigma model with constituent quarks. The equilibration of the system is studied for a first order phase transition and a critical point, where a different behavior is found. At the first order phase transition we observe the phase coexistence and at a critical point the phenomenon of critical slowing down with large relaxation times. We go beyond existing Langevin studies and include reheating of the heat bath by determining the energy dissipation during the relaxational process. The energy of the entire system is conserved. In a critical point scenario we again observe critical slowing down.
We present a consistent theoretical approach for the study of nonequilibrium effects in chiral fluid dynamics within the framework of the linear sigma model with constituent quarks. Treating the quarks as an equilibrated heat bath we use the influence functional formalism to obtain a Langevin equation for the sigma field. This allows us to calculate the explicit form of the damping coefficient and the noise correlators. For a selfconsistent derivation of both the dynamics of the sigma field and the quark fluid we have to employ the 2PI (two-particle irreducible) effective action formalism. The energy dissipation from the field to the fluid is treated in the exact formalism of the 2PI effective action where a conserved energy-momentum tensor can be constructed. We derive its form and comment on approximations generating additional terms in the energy-momentum balance of the entire system.
We present the current status of hybrid approaches to describe heavy ion collisions and their future challenges and perspectives. First we present a hybrid model combining a Boltzmann transport model of hadronic degrees of freedom in the initial and final state with an optional hydrodynamic evolution during the dense and hot phase. Second, we present a recent extension of the hydrodynamical model to include fluctuations near the phase transition by coupling a chiral field to the hydrodynamic evolution.
We study the chiral phase transition by the non-equilibrium propagation of the sigma field. A quark fluid acts as a heat bath in local thermal equilibrium and evolves fluid dynamically. We allow for dissipative processes and fluctuations since the sigma field is propagated according to a Langevin-type equation of motion. Non-equilibrium fluctuations at the first order phase transition lead to an increase in the intensity of sigma excitations.