CAREER: Properties of Strongly Interacting Matter from Lattice QCD

大爆炸后几微秒，原始宇宙处于夸克-胶子等离子体状态。今天，强相互作用物质的这一阶段可以在极端的温度或密度条件下重建，就像目前在相对论重离子对撞机（RHIC）和大型强子对撞机（LHC）上发生的超相对论重离子碰撞所实现的那样。该项目将支持RHIC和LHC的实验项目，从第一原理计算可观测值并将其与测量相关联。目的是通过回答与相变的性质和自由度相关的未解决的问题来推进对强相互作用的理解，这些问题在相图的不同区域中填充系统。目前理论计算所能达到的高精度使得理论与实验的结合成为可能。该项目将有助于培养下一代从事基本相互作用理论研究的本科生和研究生。学生将接触到国际环境，并将学习最先进的理论工具。PI将通过公开讲座、研讨会和访问休斯顿的学校，向未被充分代表的少数族裔推广物理学。这个项目的目标是实现夸克-胶子等离子体性质的微观理解。该项目将有助于确定强相互作用物质的相图，填充其不同区域的自由度，系统通过QCD交叉转变的演变及其在定义相中的热力学性质。方法是利用第一性原理的数值模拟计算相关的观测值，并通过现象学模型将其映射到测量值。具体目标如下：确定QCD相图中形成强子的温度和密度，并将其与实验测量的温度和密度联系起来；约束相变顺序发生变化的临界点的存在和位置；确定这种相互作用是否足够强，能够在QGP中形成顺序的、可能是风味特定的强子。凭借其零密度和有限密度组件，该项目将从第一原理为RHIC和LHC项目提供一个连贯的理论框架。除了直接应用于重离子碰撞之外，该项目预计将对其他物理学领域产生更广泛的影响，如弦理论、宇宙学和凝聚态物质。

A few microseconds after the Big Bang, the primordial Universe was in a Quark-Gluon Plasma state. Today, this phase of strongly interacting matter can be re-created under extreme conditions of temperatures or densities, like the ones achieved in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions currently taking place at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This project will support the experimental programs at RHIC and LHC by calculating observables from first principles and relating them to measurements. The purpose is to advance the understanding of strong interactions by answering unresolved questions related to the nature of the phase transition and the degrees of freedom, which populate the system in the different regions of the phase diagram. The high precision achievable currently in the theoretical calculations allows such a combined effort between theory and experiment for the first time. This project will help train the next generation of students working on the theory of fundamental interactions, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students will be exposed to an international environment and will learn the most advanced theoretical tools. The PI will promote physics to underrepresented minorities through public lectures, seminars and visits to Houston schools.The goal of this project is to achieve a microscopic understanding of Quark-Gluon Plasma properties. The project will help determine the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter, the degrees of freedom which populate its different regions, the evolution of the system through the QCD crossover transition and its thermodynamic properties in the deconfined phase. The methodology is to calculate relevant observables using numerical simulations from first principles and map them to measurements through phenomenological models. The specific objectives are as follows: determine the temperatures and densities in the QCD phase diagram at which hadrons are formed and relate them to the ones measured in experiment; constrain the existence and position of the critical point, at which the order of the phase transition changes; establish whether the interaction is strong enough to enable sequential, possibly flavor specific, hadron formation in the QGP. With its zero and finite-density components, the project will yield a coherent theoretical framework for the RHIC and LHC programs from first principles. Besides having immediate applications to heavy ion collisions, the project is expected to have a broader impact on other fields of physics, such as string theory, cosmology and condensed matter.