Papers
Topics
Authors
Recent
Gemini 2.5 Flash
Gemini 2.5 Flash
121 tokens/sec
GPT-4o
9 tokens/sec
Gemini 2.5 Pro Pro
47 tokens/sec
o3 Pro
4 tokens/sec
GPT-4.1 Pro
38 tokens/sec
DeepSeek R1 via Azure Pro
28 tokens/sec
2000 character limit reached

Domain growth and fluctuations during quenched transition to QGP in relativistic heavy-ion collisions (1210.4718v1)

Published 17 Oct 2012 in hep-ph, nucl-ex, and nucl-th

Abstract: We model the initial confinement-deconfinement transition in relativistic heavy-ion collisions as a rapid quench in view of expected rapid thermalization to a QGP state. The transition is studied using the Polyakov loop model, with the initial field configuration (in the confining phase) covering a small neighborhood of the confining vacuum $l \simeq 0$, as appropriate for $T < T_c$. Quench is implemented by evolving this initial configuration with the effective potential at a temperature $T > T_c$. We study the formation of Z(3) domain structure and its evolution during the transition as $l$ rolls down in different directions from the top of the central hill in the effective potential of $l$. When explicit Z(3) symmetry breaking effects (arising from dynamical quark effects) are small, then we find well defined Z(3) domains which coarsen in time. Remarkably, the magnitude plot of $l$ shows vacuum bubble like configurations arising during the quench. This first order transition like behavior occurs even though there is no metastable vacuum separated by a barrier from the true vacuum for the parameter values used. When the initial field configuration everywhere rolls down roughly along the same direction (as will happen with large explicit symmetry breaking) then we do not find such bubble-like configurations. However, in this case we find huge oscillations of $l$ with large length scales. We show that such large oscillations can lead to large fluctuations in the evolution of flow anisotropies compared to the equilibrium transition case.

Summary

We haven't generated a summary for this paper yet.