The study of strongly interacting matter under extreme conditions

我的研究项目旨在研究在极端温度和/或密度条件下的强相互作用系统。更具体地说，在这种奇异的环境中，强核相互作用理论（QCD）预测了一种奇异物质状态的形成，即夸克-胶子等离子体（QGP）。我的项目旨在提供夸克-胶子等离子体（QGP）的定量表征，目前在两个主要的加速器设施中观察到：RHIC（布鲁克海文国家实验室的相对论重离子对撞机）和LHC（欧洲核子研究中心的大型强子对撞机）。在地球实验室中，以相对论能量碰撞大原子核是产生和研究热而致密的强相互作用物质的唯一可行方法。该计划旨在阐明QCD（量子色动力学）的体积性质在平衡和不平衡。其短期目标涉及互补方面。其中之一涉及软强子探针及其与QCD输运系数的确定的联系，QCD输运系数反过来调节和量化偏离平衡。例如，我们试图分离出QCD的剪切和体积粘度系数，以及它们与温度的依赖关系，以及重子数如何在这种介质中传输。另一个方面涉及穿透探针，因为我们的目标是理解和预测从QGP发射的实光子和虚光子。它们携带着关于核碰撞早期动力学的重要信息，并且可以-在现实时间演化场景的帮助下-作为温度计和粘度计，用于碰撞动力学跨越的QCD的不同阶段。在一个相关的调查中，我们想了解在我们对中子星结构和冷却的理解和观测中隐含着什么关于核方程状态的信息。我们将在地球实验室和宇宙中探索物质的极端状态之间进行比较。该计划涉及有限温度和密度下场论的不同方面，以及先进的数值模拟。

My research program aims to study strongly-interacting systems, in condition of extreme temperatures and/or densities. More specifically, in such exotic environment, the theory of the strong nuclear interaction - QCD - predicts the formation of an exotic state of matter, the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). My program seeks to provide quantitative characterization of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), which is now observed at two major accelerator facilities: RHIC (the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, Brookhaven National Laboratory), and at the LHC (the Large hadron Collider, CERN). Colliding large nuclei at relativistic energies is the only practical way to produce and study hot and dense strongly interacting matter in terrestrial laboratories. The program seeks to elucidate the bulk properties of QCD (Quantum Chromodynamics) in and out of equilibrium. Its short term goals involve complementary aspects. One of them concerns soft hadronic probes and their connection to the determination of transport coefficients of QCD, which in turn regulate and quantify departures from equilibrium. For example, we seek to isolate the shear and bulk viscosity coefficients of QCD, with their temperature-dependence, and also how the baryon number gets transported in this medium. Another aspect concerns penetrating probes, as we aim to understand and predict the emission of real and virtual photons from the QGP. These carry important information on the early-time dynamics of the nuclear collision, and can - with the help of a realistic time-evolution scenario - act literally as thermometers and as viscometers for the different phases of QCD spanned by the collision dynamics. In a related inquiry, we want to understand what information about the nuclear equation state is implied in our understanding and observations of neutron star structure and cooling. We will draw parallels between probing extreme states of matter in terrestrial laboratories and in the cosmos. The program involves different aspects of field theories at finite temperatures and densities, and of advanced numerical modelling.