arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to W. M. Alberico.
We study the evolution of the longitudinal expansion of an ideal fluid with finite electrical conductivity, which is subject to the EM fields. In the framework of resistive relativistic-magneto-hydrodynamic, we find an exact analytical solution for the EM fields and for the acceleration of the fluid.
The QCD transition from a hadronic to a quark-gluon plasma phase is a cross-over at vanishing/small baryo-chemical potential, while at higher chemical potentials it is argued that it becomes of first order, ending with a critical end-point. The present goal is the determination of the critical line and, possibly, the recognition of the critical endpoint. For this purpose, the effective model (Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with Polyakov Loop) with 2+1 flavours is used. In Mean Field Approximation it is possible to obtain all thermodynamic quantities (pressure, entropy, energy and quark density) and their fluctuations, in particular, the generalized quark-number susceptibilities. We use the net baryon-number fluctuations and net-strangeness fluctuations to identify the critical line and the order of the phase transition in the chemical potential - temperature plane.
We argue that the existence of an inhomogeneous external magnetic field can lead to radial flow in transverse plane. Our aim is to show how the introduction of a magnetic field generalizes the Bjorken flow. We investigate the effect of an inhomogeneous weak external magnetic field on the transverse expansion of in-viscid fluid created in high energy nuclear collisions. In order to simplify our calculation and compare with Gubser model, we consider the fluid under investigation to be produced in central collisions, at small impact parameter; azimuthal symmetry has been considered. In our model, we assume an inhomogeneous external magnetic field following the power-law decay in proper time and having radial inhomogeneity perpendicular to the radial velocity of the in-viscid fluid in the transverse plane; then the space time evolution of the transverse expansion of the fluid is obtained. We also show how the existence of an inhomogeneous external magnetic field modifies the energy density. Finally we use the solutions for the transverse velocity and energy density in the presence of a weak magnetic field, to estimate the transverse momentum spectrum of protons and pions emerging from the Magneto-hydrodynamic solutions.
In this study, we investigate the impact of the magnetic field on the evolution of the transverse flow of QGP matter in the magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) framework. We assume that the magnetic field is perpendicular to the reaction plane and then we solve the coupled Maxwell and conservation equations in (1+1D) transverse flow, within the Bjorken scenario. We consider a QGP with infinite electrical conductivity. First, the magnetic effects on the QGP medium at mid-rapidity are investigated at leading order; then the time and space dependence of the energy density, velocity and magnetic field in the transverse plane of the ideal magnetized hot plasma are obtained.
The Rooted Maps Theory, a branch of the Theory of Homology, is shown to be a powerful tool for investigating the topological properties of Feynman diagrams, related to the single particle propagator in the quantum many-body systems. The numerical correspondence between the number of this class of Feynman diagrams as a function of perturbative order and the number of rooted maps as a function of the number of edges is studied. A graphical procedure to associate Feynman diagrams and rooted maps is then stated. Finally, starting from rooted maps principles, an original definition of the genus of a Feynman diagram, which totally differs from the usual one, is given.
This document was prepared by the community that is active in Italy, within INFN (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare), in the field of ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. The experimental study of the phase diagram of strongly-interacting matter and of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) deconfined state will proceed, in the next 10-15 years, along two directions: the high-energy regime at RHIC and at the LHC, and the low-energy regime at FAIR, NICA, SPS and RHIC. The Italian community is strongly involved in the present and future programme of the ALICE experiment, the upgrade of which will open, in the 2020s, a new phase of high-precision characterisation of the QGP properties at the LHC. As a complement of this main activity, there is a growing interest in a possible future experiment at the SPS, which would target the search for the onset of deconfinement using dimuon measurements. On a longer timescale, the community looks with interest at the ongoing studies and discussions on a possible fixed-target programme using the LHC ion beams and on the Future Circular Collider.
We evaluate and discuss the impact of meson-exchange currents (MECs) on charged-current quasielastic neutrino cross sections. We consider the nuclear transverse response arising from two-particle two-hole states excited by the action of electromagnetic, purely isovector meson-exchange currents in a fully relativistic framework based on the work by the Torino Collaboration [A. D. Pace, M. Nardi, W. M. Alberico, T. W. Donnelly, and A. Molinari, Nucl. Phys. A726, 303 (2003)]. An accurate parametrization of this MEC response as a function of the momentum and energy transfers involved is presented. Results of neutrino-nucleus cross sections using this MEC parametrization together with a recent scaling approach for the one-particle one-hole contributions (named SuSAv2) are compared with experimental data (MiniBooNE, MINERvA, NOMAD and T2K Collaborations).
We extend a previous work on the study of heavy charmonia and bottomonia in a deconfined quark-gluon plasma by considering the Bc family of mesons. With the introduction of this bound state of a charm and a beauty quark, we investigate at finite temperature the behavior of the quarkonium, in an energy region between the ψ and the Υ states.
A snapshot of the results for heavy-flavour observables in heavy-ion (AA) collisions at RHIC and LHC obtained with our transport calculations is displayed. The initial charm and beauty production is simulated through pQCD tools (POWHEG+PYTHIA) and is validated through the comparison with data from pp collisions. The propagation of c and b quarks in the medium formed in heavy-ion collisions is studied through a transport setup based on the relativistic Langevin equation. With respect to past works we perform a more systematic study, providing results with different choices of transport coefficients, either from weak-coupling calculations or from lattice-QCD simulations. Our findings are compared to a rich set of experimental data (D-mesons, non-photonic electrons, non-prompt J/ψ's) which have meanwhile become accessible.
A multi-step setup for heavy-flavour studies in high-energy nucleus-nucleus (AA) collisions --- addressing within a comprehensive framework the initial Q-Qbar production, the propagation in the hot medium until decoupling and the final hadronization and decays --- is presented. The initial hard production of Q-Qbar pairs is simulated using the POWHEG pQCD event generator, interfaced with the PYTHIA parton shower. Outcomes of the calculations are compared to experimental data in pp collisions and are used as a validated benchmark for the study of medium effects. In the AA case, the propagation of the heavy quarks in the medium is described in a framework provided by the relativistic Langevin equation. For the latter, different choices of transport coefficients are explored (either provided by a perturbative calculation or extracted from lattice-QCD simulations) and the corresponding numerical results are compared to experimental data from RHIC and the LHC. In particular, outcomes for the nuclear modification factor R_AA and for the elliptic flow v_2 of D/B mesons, heavy-flavour electrons and non-prompt J/ψ's are displayed.
The quark-gluon plasma (QGP) excitations, corresponding to the scalar and pseudoscalar meson quantum numbers, for different temperatures are calculated. Analysis is performed in the Hard Thermal Loop (HTL) Approximation and leads to a better understanding of the excitations of QGP in the deconfined phase and is also of relevance for lattice studies.
A refined version of a multi-step calculation of heavy-flavor observables in pp and AA collisions has been developed, based on pQCD at NLO accuracy followed by parton shower evolution to describe heavy-quark production and on the relativistic Langevin equation to describe their stochastic evolution in the QCD plasma. Then, hadronization is modeled through an implementation of fragmentation functions based on pQCD and constrained by $e^{+}e^{-}$ collider data. Results of our calculations can be compared with recent measurements performed at the LHC in Pb--Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$=2.76 TeV: nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}$ of the $p_{T}$ spectra at mid-rapidity of heavy-flavor decay electrons and of exclusively reconstructed open-charm mesons at different centralities, as well as their elliptic-flow $v_{2}$($p_{T}$) in semi-central collisions. To test the validity of our setup for such studies, its predictions are also checked against the $p_{T}$ spectra measured in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=7 TeV and 2.76 TeV.
The stochastic dynamics of c and b quarks in the fireball created in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC is studied employing a relativistic Langevin equation, based on a picture of multiple uncorrelated random collisions with the medium. Heavy-quark transport coefficients are evaluated within a pQCD approach, with a proper HTL resummation of medium effects for soft scatterings. The Langevin equation is embedded in a multi-step setup developed to study heavy-flavor observables in pp and AA collisions, starting from a NLO pQCD calculation of initial heavy-quark yields, complemented in the nuclear case by shadowing corrections, k_T-broadening and nuclear geometry effects. Then, only for AA collisions, the Langevin equation is solved numerically in a background medium described by relativistic hydrodynamics. Finally, the propagated heavy quarks are made hadronize and decay into electrons. Results for the nuclear modification factor R_AA of heavy-flavor hadrons and electrons from their semi-leptonic decays are provided, both for RHIC and LHC beam energies.
The propagation of the heavy quarks produced in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC is studied within the framework of Langevin dynamics in the background of an expanding deconfined medium described by ideal and viscous hydrodynamics. The transport coefficients entering into the relativistic Langevin equation are evaluated by matching the hard-thermal-loop result for soft collisions with a perturbative QCD calculation for hard scatterings. The heavy-quark spectra thus obtained are employed to compute the differential cross sections, the nuclear modification factors R_AA and the elliptic flow coefficients v_2 of electrons from heavy-flavour decay.
We present a study of the heavy-flavor dynamics in nucleus-nucleus collisions. The initial (hard) production of c and b quarks is taken from NLO pQCD predictions. The presence of a hot medium (a Quark Gluon Plasma described by hydrodynamics) affects the final spectra of open-charm (beauty) hadrons and their decay electrons with respect to what found in pp collisions. The propagation of c and b quarks in the plasma is based on a picture of multiple uncorrelated random collisions, described by a relativistic Langevin equation. A microscopic evaluation of the transport coefficients is provided within a pQCD approach (with proper resummation of medium effects). Results for the final spectra of heavy-flavor hadrons and decay-electrons are given, with particular emphasis on R_AA and v_2.
We study the stochastic dynamics of c and b quarks in the hot plasma produced in nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC and LHC, providing results for the nuclear modification factor R_AA and the elliptic flow coefficient v_2 of the single-electron spectra arising from their semi-leptonic decays. The initial QQbar pairs are generated using the POWHEG code, implementing pQCD at NLO. For the propagation in the plasma we develop a relativistic Langevin equation (solved in a medium described by hydrodynamics) whose transport coefficients are evaluated through a first-principle calculation. Finally, at T_c, the heavy quarks are made hadronize and decay into electrons: the resulting spectra are then compared with RHIC results. Predictions for LHC are also attempted.
We study the stochastic dynamics of c and b quarks, produced in hard initial processes, in the hot medium created after the collision of two relativistic heavy ions. This is done through the numerical solution of the relativistic Langevin equation. The latter requires the knowledge of the friction and diffusion coefficients, whose microscopic evaluation is performed treating separately the contribution of soft and hard collisions. The evolution of the background medium is described by ideal/viscous hydrodynamics. Below the critical temperature the heavy quarks are converted into hadrons, whose semileptonic decays provide single-electron spectra to be compared with the current experimental data measured at RHIC. We focus on the nuclear modification factor R_AA and on the elliptic-flow coefficient v_2, getting, for sufficiently large p_T, a reasonable agreement.
The stochastic dynamics of heavy quarks in the fireball produced in heavy-ion collisions is followed through numerical simulations based on the Langevin equation. The modification of the final p_T spectra (R_AA) of c and b quarks, hadrons and single-electrons with respect to pp collisions is studied. The transport coefficients are evaluated treating separately the contribution of soft and hard collisions. The initial heavy-quark spectra are generated according to NLO-pQCD, accounting for nuclear effects through recent nPDFs. The evolution of the medium is obtained from the output of two hydro-codes (ideal and viscous). The heavy-quark fragmentation into hadrons and their final semileptonic decays are implemented according to up to date experimental data. A comparison with RHIC data for non-photonic electron spectra is given.