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 -预测了物质的奇异状态-夸克胶子等离子体（QGP）的形成。我的计划旨在提供夸克胶子等离子体（QGP）的定量表征，现在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（大型强子对撞机，CERN）。在相对论能量下碰撞大原子核是在地球实验室中产生和研究热而致密的强相互作用物质的唯一可行方法。该程序旨在阐明QCD（量子色动力学）在平衡态和非平衡态的整体性质。其短期目标涉及互补方面。其中之一是关于软强子探测器及其与QCD输运系数测定的联系，后者反过来又调节和量化偏离平衡的情况。例如，我们试图分离QCD的剪切和体粘滞系数，以及它们的温度依赖性，以及重子数如何在这种介质中传输。 另一方面涉及穿透探针，因为我们的目标是理解和预测从QGP发射的真实的和虚拟光子。它们携带着关于核碰撞早期动力学的重要信息，并且在现实的时间演化情景的帮助下，可以充当碰撞动力学所跨越的QCD不同阶段的温度计和粘度计。在一个相关的调查中，我们想了解在我们对中子星星结构和冷却的理解和观测中，关于核方程态的哪些信息是隐含的。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的场论的不同方面，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.