Introduction to Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions László P. Csernai University of Bergen, Norway Written for postgraduates and advanced undergraduates in physics, this clear and concise work covers a wide range of subjects from intermediate to ultra-relativistic energies, thus providing an introductory overview of heavy ion physics. The reader is introduced to essential principles in heavy ion physics through a variety of questions, with answers, of varying difficulty. This timely text is based on a series of well received lectures given by Professor L. Csernai at the University of Minnesota, and the University of Bergen, where the author is based.
Written primarily for researchers and graduate students who are new in this emerging field, this book develops the necessary tools so that readers can follow the latest advances in this subject. Readers are first guided to examine the basic informations on nucleon-nucleon collisions and the use of the nucleus as an arena to study the interaction of one nucleon with another. A good survey of the relation between nucleon-nucleon and nucleus-nucleus collisions provides the proper comparison to study phenomena involving the more exotic quark-gluon plasma. Properties of the quark-gluon plasma and signatures for its detection are discussed to aid future searches and exploration for this exotic matter. Recent experimental findings are summarised.
This new volume, I/23, of the Landolt-Börnstein Data Collection series continues a tradition inaugurated by the late Editor-in-Chief, Professor Werner Martienssen, to provide in the style of an encyclopedia a summary of the results and ideas of Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics. Formerly, the Landolt-Börnstein series was mostly known as a compilation of numerical data and functional relations, but it was felt that the more comprehensive summary undertaken here should meet an urgent purpose. Volume I/23 reports on the present state of theoretical and experimental knowledge in the field of Relativistic Heavy Ion Physics. What is meant by this rather technical terminology is the study of strongly interacting matter, and its phases (in short QCD matter) by means of nucleus-nucleus collisions at relativistic energy. The past decade has seen a dramatic progress, and widening of scope in this field, which addresses one of the chief remaining open frontiers of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and, in a wider sense, the "Standard Model of Elementary Interactions". The data resulting from the CERN SPS, BNL AGS and GSI SIS experiments, and in particular also from almost a decade of experiments carried out at the "Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider"(RHIC) at Brookhaven, have been fully analyzed, uncovering a wealth of information about both the confined and deconfined phases of QCD at high energy density.
The past decade has seen unprecedented developments in the understanding of relativistic fluid dynamics in and out of equilibrium, with connections to astrophysics, cosmology, string theory, quantum information, nuclear physics and condensed matter physics. Romatschke and Romatschke offer a powerful new framework for fluid dynamics, exploring its connections to kinetic theory, gauge/gravity duality and thermal quantum field theory. Numerical algorithms to solve the equations of motion of relativistic dissipative fluid dynamics as well as applications to various systems are discussed. In particular, the book contains a comprehensive review of the theory background necessary to apply fluid dynamics to simulate relativistic nuclear collisions, including comparisons of fluid simulation results to experimental data for relativistic lead-lead, proton-lead and proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The book is an excellent resource for students and researchers working in nuclear physics, astrophysics, cosmology, quantum many-body systems and string theory.
This book presents recent results on experimental and theoretical studies of the interaction of heavy ions with nuclei at low and intermediate energies: the dynamics of fusion and decay of complex nuclear systems, the synthesis of superheavy elements, the synthesis and properties of exotic nuclei close to the proton and neutron driplines, nuclear fission, nuclear structure, and reactions with stable and radioactive ion beams. It also covers some aspects of applied physics research: track membranes and their applications, the use of polymers in medicine and electronics, production and application of radioisotopes for medical purposes, and environmental protection.
This book attempts to cover the fascinating field of physics of relativistic heavy ions, mainly from the experimentalist's point of view. After the introductory chapter on quantum chromodynamics, basic properties of atomic nuclei, sources of relativistic nuclei, and typical detector set-ups are described in three subsequent chapters. Experimental facts on collisions of relativistic heavy ions are systematically presented in 15 consecutive chapters, starting from the simplest features like cross sections, multiplicities, and spectra of secondary particles and going to more involved characteristics like correlations, various relatively rare processes, and newly discovered features: collective flow, high pT suppression and jet quenching. Some entirely new topics are included, such as the difference between neutron and proton radii in nuclei, heavy hypernuclei, and electromagnetic effects on secondary particle spectra.Phenomenological approaches and related simple models are discussed in parallel with the presentation of experimental data. Near the end of the book, recent ideas about the new state of matter created in collisions of ultrarelativistic nuclei are discussed. In the final chapter, some predictions are given for nuclear collisions in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), now in construction at the site of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva. Finally, the appendix gives us basic notions of relativistic kinematics, and lists the main international conferences related to this field. A concise reference book on physics of relativistic heavy ions, it shows the present status of this field.
The physics of strongly interacting matter in an external magnetic field is presently emerging as a topic of great cross-disciplinary interest for particle, nuclear, astro- and condensed matter physicists. It is known that strong magnetic fields are created in heavy ion collisions, an insight that has made it possible to study a variety of surprising and intriguing phenomena that emerge from the interplay of quantum anomalies, the topology of non-Abelian gauge fields, and the magnetic field. In particular, the non-trivial topological configurations of the gluon field induce a non-dissipative electric current in the presence of a magnetic field. These phenomena have led to an extended formulation of relativistic hydrodynamics, called chiral magnetohydrodynamics. Hitherto unexpected applications in condensed matter physics include graphene and topological insulators. Other fields of application include astrophysics, where strong magnetic fields exist in magnetars and pulsars. Last but not least, an important new theoretical tool that will be revisited and which made much of the progress surveyed in this book possible is the holographic principle - the correspondence between quantum field theory and gravity in extra dimensions. Edited and authored by the pioneers and leading experts in this newly emerging field, this book offers a valuable resource for a broad community of physicists and graduate students.
One of the main goals of intermediate energy nuclear physics, which serves an important role as a bridge between nuclear and particle physics, is to construct the theory of strong interaction phenomena in terms of conventional degrees of freedom (nucleons, deltas and mesons) as well as of quark degrees of freedom.The main topics to be discussed at this conference are the interaction of pions and other mesons with nuclei at intermediate energies and the role of mesonic degrees of freedom in nuclear reactions, including photon, hadron and heavy ion induced reactions. Both theoretical and experimental results will be included.Over the past two decades, the Meson Factories, including LAMPF, TRIUMF, and PSI, have provided us with systematic experimental information on hadron-hadron and hadron-nucleus dynamics. Major accelerators of JINR are also suitable for studying problems in Intermediate Energy Nuclear Physics. At the present time, first experiments have been performed with the proton beams at the Moscow Meson Factory of INR. One of the purposes of this conference is to introduce the intermediate-energy physics community to the possibility of utilizing the facilities of JINR and INR during the next decade.
