Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Ranjita K. Mohapatra

Publications and source records attributed to Ranjita K. Mohapatra.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Simulation of Z(3) walls and string production via bubble nucleation in a quark-hadron transition

We study the dynamics of confinement-deconfinement (C-D) phase transition in the context of relativistic heavy-ion collisions within the framework of effective models for the Polyakov loop order parameter. We study the formation of $Z(3)$ walls and associated strings in the initial transition from the confining (hadronic) phase to the deconfining (QGP) phase via the so called Kibble mechanism. Essential physics of the Kibble mechanism is contained in a sort of domain structure arising after any phase transition which represents random variation of the order parameter at distances beyond the typical correlation length. We implement this domain structure by using the Polyakov loop effective model with a first order phase transition and confine ourselves with temperature/time ranges so that the first order C-D transition proceeds via bubble nucleation, leading to a well defined domain structure. The formation of $Z(3)$ walls and associated strings results from the coalescence of QGP bubbles expanding in the confining background. We investigate the evolution of the $Z(3)$ wall and string network. We also calculate the energy density fluctuations associated with $Z(3)$ wall network and strings which decay away after the temperature drops below the quark-hadron transition temperature during the expansion of QGP. We discuss evolution of these quantities with changing temperature via Bjorken's hydrodynamical model and discuss possible experimental signatures resulting from the presence of $Z(3)$ wall network and associate strings.

hep-ph↗

Using CMBR analysis tools for flow anisotropies in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Recently we have shown that there are crucial similarities in the physics of cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) anisotropies and the flow anisotropies in relativistic heavy-ion collision experiments (RHICE). We also argued that, following CMBR anisotropy analysis, a plot of root-mean square values of the flow coefficients, calculated in a lab fixed frame for RHICE, can yield important information about the nature of initial state anisotropies and their evolution. Here we demonstrate the strength of this technique by showing that elliptic flow for non-central collisions can be directly determined from such a plot without any need for the determination of event-plane.

hep-ph↗

Super-horizon fluctuations and acoustic oscillations in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We focus on the initial state spatial anisotropies, originating at the thermalization stage, for central collisions in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We propose that a plot of the root mean square values of the flow coefficients $\sqrt{\bar {v_n^2}} \equiv v_n^{rms}$, calculated in a lab fixed coordinate system, for a large range of $n$, from 1 to about 30, can give non-trivial information about the initial stages of the system and its evolution. We also argue that for all wavelengths $λ$ of the anisotropy (at the surface of the plasma region) much larger than the acoustic horizon size $H_s^{fr}$ at the freezeout stage, the resulting values of $v_n^{rms}$ should be suppressed by a factor of order $2H_s^{fr}/λ$. With initial flow being zero, we discuss the possibility that the resulting flow could show imprints of coherent oscillations in the plot of $v_n^{rms}$ for sub-horizon modes. For gold-gold collision at 200 GeV, these features are expected to occur for n $\ge$ 5, with $n < 4$ modes showing supression. This has strong similarities with the physics of the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) resulting from inflationary density fluctuations in the universe. It seems possible that the statistical fluctuations due to finite multiplicity may not be able to mask such features in the flow data, or, at least a non-trivial overall shape of the plot of $v_n^{rms}$ may be inferred. In that case, the successes of analysis of CMBR anisotropy power spectrum to get cosmological parameters can be applied for relativistic heavy-ion collisions to learn about various relevant parameters at the early stages of the evolving system.

hep-ph↗