Phase Transitions in the Early Universe
|
|
|
- Ellen Newton
- 10 years ago
- Views:
Transcription
1 Trick Phase Transitions in the Early Universe Electroweak and QCD Phase Transitions Master Program of Theoretical Physics Student Seminar in Cosmology Author: Doru STICLET Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Tomislav PROKOPEC Drd. Maarten VAN DE MEENT
2 Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 Toy Models Crossover or Second Order Phase Transition First Order Phase Transition Electroweak Phase Transition Reviewing the Higgs Mechanism Electroweak Phase Transition QCD Phase Transition QCD Phase Transition as Deconfinement The Bag Model and the QCD Phase Transition QCD Phase Transition as Chiral Symmetry Breaking High Density QCD: The CFL Phase Looking for the QGP Conclusions 27 1
3 Abstract The following report offers a review of two cosmological phase transitions: the electroweak and the QCD phase transitions in the early universe. The phase diagram of these transitions is discussed, as well as the nature of phases that appear in it. Theories about the eventual signature left by the phase transitions in the present universe are inventoried. Finally, the experimental search for the quark-gluon plasma is briefly examined.
4 Chapter 1 Introduction As cosmology draws theoretical charts ever closer to the Big-Bang, it strives to validate them by finding footprints of universe s early creations. This report concern two of these: quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and electroweak phase transitions. First goal is to simply understand the behavior of our theories at huge temperature scales, near Big-Bang. Then to see if experimental data can reach us out of these transitions. The report is structured as an introduction to the study of QCD and electroweak phase transitions. Toy model theories are developed to show how different phase transition come out of breaking the symmetries of a particular Lagrangian (Ch. 2). It is also described why first order phase transitions are such a coveted prize in cosmology. If electroweak and QCD phase transitions would prove to be first order, then an explanation for matter-antimatter asymmetry would be at hand. Also detectable gravitational waves would be produced during nucleation of bubbles. In the standard cosmological model, following inflation and after the reheating period, the universe enters a cooling process that continues today. At time t s after Big-Bang, temperature drops to scales of O(100 GeV) and electroweak phase transition takes place. At this point electromagnetic and weak force differentiate through symmetry breaking of Minimal Standard Model (MSM) Lagrangian. The Higgs mechanism by which weak force becomes short range is reviewed (Sec. 3.1). The transitions phase diagram is described and evidence for electroweak theory to provide grounds for creating matter-antimatter asymmetry is considered (Sec 3.2). At time t 10 6 s after Big-Bang, the universe has reached a temperature of O(100 MeV). QCD phase transition takes place and quarks become confined into hadrons. This phase transition is susceptible to two interpretations: as deconfinement (Sec ) or as chiral symmetry breaking (Sec. 4.3). Using a phenomenological model to describe confinement we were able to find a critical temperature for this transition (Sec. 4.2) close to the more exact one obtained from lattice simulations (Sec. 4.1, 4.3). Then we switch from following closely T axis on the phase diagram-(t, µ) (were the evolution of universe s path lies) to relatively low temperatures and high densities (encountered in neutron stars), where we describe the 3
5 Introduction Figure 1.1: Thermal history of the universe in the standard cosmological model [1]. color-flavor locking (CFL) phase (Sec. 4.4). As data from cosmological QCD phase transition proves to be unattainable, efforts to recreate and detect in laboratories (especially RHIC) the high temperature quark-gluon plasma are illustrated (Sec. 4.5). 4
6 Chapter 2 Toy Models In the following two sections we will study the way spontaneous symmetry breaking is related to thermal phase transitions. Taking two simple Lagrangians [2] we will obtain the effective potential as a function of the order parameter. The behavior of the effective potential dictates the type of the phase transition. These toy models also offer us the opportunity to describe features of the phase transitions that make them relevant in cosmology. 2.1 Crossover or Second Order Phase Transition A crossover or a second order phase transition can be read from the following simple Lagrangian: L = 1 2 µφ µ φ V, V = λ 4 (φ2 v 2 ) 2, (2.1) where φ is a real scalar field, V is the potential, and λ, v are constants. This Lagrangian has the global symmetry φ φ. The vacuum state of the system will spontaneously break the global symmetry of the Lagrangian. What we will show is that raising the temperature in the system, we will be able to induce a phase transition to a ground state wich obeys again the symmetry of (2.1). The ground state of the system is determined by considering the minima of the potential. Thus taking V φ = 0, we obtain: λ(φ 3 v 2 φ) = 0. (2.2) This shows that there are two non-zero solutions to Eq. (2.2), which describe the vacuum state of the system φ = ±v. That implies that the symmetry of the Lagrangian is broken by the system s choice of vacuum. Even at zero temperature there are quantum fluctuations of the field φ around one ground state [1]. But tunneling through the potential barrier to the other ground state of equal energy is exponentially suppressed. Switching on temperature will bring thermal fluctuations into our toy model. Considering that tunneling becomes significant only at 5
7 2.1 Crossover or Second Order Phase Transition Toy Models high temperatures means that we can ignore the more subtle quantum fluctuations in comparison with large thermal fluctuations. As temperature rises and thermal fluctuations grow, the field will begin to oscillate quickly between the minima of the system. These fluctuations will be so rapid that the average of the field over some large period of time will just give zero [1]. This is in sum the phenomenological description of the symmetry restoration process; where from a state were the field is trapped at a non-zero value we arrived by increasing temperature to a state symmetric under φ φ, as the Lagrangian (2.1). Factoring in temperature is done by decomposing the field φ(x) into a mean, homogenous part φ 0 plus a contribution from thermal fluctuations δφ(x). Considering here only Gaussian, symmetric thermal fluctuation means that averages over odd powers of δφ are zero. Using this decomposition of φ we return to Eq. (2.2), which now reads: λ[φ φ 2 0δφ + 3φ 0 δφ 2 + δφ 3 v 2 (φ 0 + δφ)] = 0. (2.3) Averaging over the fluctuations and eliminating averages of odd powers of δφ gives: λ(φ δφ 2 φ 0 v 2 φ 0 ) = 0. (2.4) The value of the average δφ 2 can be found by Fourier decomposing δφ and quantizing the result, such that the Fourier coefficients will become annihilation and creation operators with familiar commutations relations between them [3]. Taking the vacuum expectation value of the product of two fluctuation fields δφ gives [3]: δφ 2 = d 3 p (2π) 3 1 ω ( n p ) with ω = p 2 + m 2, (2.5) where n p is the occupation number and m is the mass of the field given by m 2 = φ 2V φ 0 =±v = 2λv 2. Taking finite temperature into account implies substituting the occupation number n p with the Bose-Einstein distribution function. The 1/2 term in Eq. (2.5) is divergent and represents the infinite contribution from the zerotemperature. We will disregard this term as it is absorbed during renormalization in the couplings of the theory. Then, considering only the thermal contribution, we obtain: δφ 2 = d 3 p (2π) 3 1 ω 1 e βω 1. (2.6) Let us solve this integral by first going to polar coordinates and then changing the integration variable p ω. From now on we will denote the integral (2.6) by I. Then: I(m) = 1 ω 2π 2 dω 2 m 2 e ω/t 1. (2.7) m We wish to work in the high temperature limit, so it will be helpful to write the parameters in our problem divided by T : x = ω T, y = m T. (2.8) 6
8 2.1 Crossover or Second Order Phase Transition Toy Models Then we rewrite the integral I: I(y) = T 2 2π 2 = T 2 2π 2 y n=1 dx y x 2 y 2 e x 1 dx x 2 y 2 e nx. (2.9) In order to solve this integral, we can first solve the easier one: I(y) y = yt 2 2π 2 = yt 2 2π 2 y e nx x 2 y 2 K 0 (ny), (2.10) n=1 where K 0 is a modified Bessel function with a integral expression given above. We can perform the sum over K 0 in the high temperature limit (y 1) and maintain only the leading order [3, 4]. Then to the leading order: I(y) y I(y) = y 0 = yt 2 ( ) π 2π 2 + O(ln y) 2y dy I(y ) y = yt 2 4π + T 2 2π 2 + I(0) n=1 = yt 2 4π + T 2 1 2π 2 n 2 n=1 0 dxxe nx (2.11) = yt 2 4π + T 2 12, (2.12) where the last sum is the already known ζ(2) = π2 6. In conclusion, the thermal contribution to the propagator δφ 2 in leading terms in temperature T is: δφ 2 T 2 12 mt 4π. (2.13) For the present purpose, we can use a cruder approximation by taking only the leading term O(T 2 ) in Eq. (2.4). It will now read: λ (φ 20 + T 2 ) 4 v2 φ 0 = 0 (2.14) 7
9 2.1 Crossover or Second Order Phase Transition Toy Models Integrating this equation, we obtain an effective potential which describes how the homogenous field φ 0 is influenced by temperature: [ ( )] φ 4 V eff (φ 0 ) = λ φ2 0 T v2 (2.15) This basically allows you to construct a theory of the field φ 0, from which you can derive the evolution of φ 0. For our previous theory (2.1), it means that we found how the expectation value of field φ behaves under temperature effects. From Eq. (2.14) we can obtain a critical temperature T c in our system. If T > T c = 2v, Eq. (2.14) has only φ 0 = 0 solution, while for T < T c, φ 0 has two nonzero minima. This implies that we have a phase transition at T c such that the field φ developes an expectation value φ 0 under a certain temperature T c = 2v. In conclusion, we found out that the symmetry of the Lagrangian is broken by the ground state below T c, where φ 0 has non-zero value. Above T c the symmetry is restored and φ 0 = 0. This general feature will be seen again in the treatment of electroweak and QCD phase transitions.. T>Tc V( φ) T=T c T<T φ µ µ Figure 2.1: Crossover or second order phase transition. The figure should be read as V eff (φ 0 ) [1]. Drawing the graph of the effective potential V eff (φ 0 ) at different temperatures, we recognize immediately a second phase transition or a crossover. Mean field φ 0 plays the role of the order parameter in this transition. We can read the evolution on the mean field φ 0 with the decreasing temperature. As we can see the field φ develops an expectation value as temperature drops below T c. The field rolls during this process from fluctuating around zero value to some non-zero value in a smooth manner. This underlines the following important feature of crossovers (or second order phase transitions): they are continuous in the order parameter. During such transitions we are constantly at thermal equilibrium. This means that the system looses the memory of the initial state from which it begun. Thus, we don t expect remnants at lower temperatures (T < T c ) from the unbroken phase, such as bubbles of φ 0 = 0, domain walls, etc. This makes second order phase transitions (and crossovers) not so interesting from the point of view of cosmology. If the electroweak and QCD phase transitions are proven to be of this kind, we do not expect to get T=0 c 8
10 2.2 First Order Phase Transition Toy Models astrophysical data about them. Also the hypothesis that matter-antimatter asymmetry is explained by the electroweak phase transition would become problematic. 2.2 First Order Phase Transition Let us turn our attention to a more complicated Lagrangian from which we can read a first order phase transition [2]: L = 1 2 D µφ D µ φ λ 4 (φ φ v 2 ) F µνf µν. (2.16) where the covariant derivative is defined D µ = µ + iga µ and the field strength tensor F µν = µ A ν ν A µ. This Lagrangian can be said to be obtained from the previous Lagrangian (2.1), when we demand invariance of (2.1) under local phase transformation: φ e iθ(x) φ (2.17) This is realized by introducing a complex field φ. To solve the invariance breaking by the derivative of (2.1), we turn the regular derivative into a covariant derivative and define in it a vector field A µ with a transformation law: A µ A µ 1 g µθ, (2.18) where g is the charge of the field A µ. In this way the Lagrangian becomes invariant under (2.17). In order to make calculations more transparent, we decompose the complex field φ into two real fields φ = φ 1 +iφ 2. Mirroring the procedure displayed in the previous section, we will decompose the latter fields in some mean, homogenous value and a part dependent on thermal fluctuations. Because the system is phase rotation invariant, φ can be transformed such that φ 1 will have a real expectation value φ 0, while φ 2 becomes a pure fluctuation: φ 1 = φ 0 + δφ 1, φ 2 = δφ 2. (2.19) To find the ground state of the system, we must minimize the potential in (2.16) with respect to φ 1 : λ(φ φ 2 2 v 2 )φ 1 + g 2 A 2 φ 1 = 0. (2.20) Under our choice of the real fields and as long as fluctuations are taken to be Gaussian, φ 2 is not so interesting, because it cannot break the symmetry of the Lagrangian. Introducing the above field expressions in Eq. (2.19) and averaging over the fluctuations gives: [ λ φ δφ δφ 2 g 2 ] 2 + λ A µa µ v 2 φ 0 = 0 (2.21) 9
11 2.2 First Order Phase Transition Toy Models Note also that A µ is a massive gauge boson not unlike the photon met in massive QED. Its mass m is seen by expanding the covariant derivatives in (2.16). The presence of φ 0 gives it a mass m 2 = g 2 φ 2 0. A µ has three degrees of freedom such that it has three times the thermal contribution (only this contribution is considered here) of the scalar boson field δφ from Eq. (2.6): A µ A µ T 2 4 3mT (2.22) 4π Using also the expansion of the other δφ 1,2 fields to the leading order in T, we obtain from Eq. (2.21): [ ( ) ] λ φ 2 0 3g3 T φ 0 1 4πλ g2 T 2 v 2 φ 0 = 0 (2.23) 4λ Integrating this equation we find the effective potential V eff (φ 0 ): V eff (φ 0 ) = 1 [( ) ] λ g2 T 2 λv 2 φ 2 0 g3 T 4 4π φ3 0 + λ 4 φ4 0 (2.24) From (2.24) we can read the expectation value behavior of φ 1 as a function of temperature. Its behavior is illustrated in Fig T>T c V( φ) T=T c T=T <T T=0 φ µ µ Figure 2.2: First order phase transition. The figure should be read as V eff (φ 0 ) [1]. Presence of the φ 3 0 term in V eff signals a first order phase transition. The cubic term translates in Fig as two symmetric local maxima. As temperature drops, maxima develop as potential barriers that keep field s expectation value trapped in the origin. At a critical temperature T c all three minima of the potential become equal. This condition determines: T c = n T<T 12λv 2 4λ + 3g 3 (3g 6 )(2π 2 λ) n c (2.25) As the temperature drops further, V eff assumes smaller value at non-zero value minima, than at φ 0 = 0. The field remains trapped in the origin, but it would be energetically favorable for it to sit in the true vacuum provided by secondary minima. 10
12 2.2 First Order Phase Transition Toy Models Under a nucleation temperature T n, the potential barrier becomes smaller and the probability for the field to tunnel to the true vacuum becomes larger then expansion rate of the universe. Then nucleating bubbles, instead of being suppressed, begin to expand in the background of the symmetric state of false vacuum. Eventually, the field rolls in the true vacuum and gains a non-zero expectation value. It is now in a ground state that breaks the symmetry of the Lagrangian (2.1). In short, symmetry breaking of the phase rotation lead to developing a non-zero expectation value for φ 1, and by this process the gauge field A µ gains mass m 2 = g 2 φ 2 0. First order phase transitions are relevant for cosmology because it exhibits processes out of thermal equilibrium at the bubble walls. During transition space is no longer isotropic and homogenous and time reversal symmetry is broken. Pressure difference in the two phases drives the expansion of the bubbles. Bubble wall acceleration quickly leads to relativistic speeds and a large kinetic energy is associated to them. Then bubble nucleation can be a violent event like boiling water. At electroweak scales bubbles expand in space, crashing into each other and releasing energy as particles, but also as gravitational waves. These gravitational waves could in principle be detected experiments. A different consequence of cosmological first order transitions could be the formation of domain walls. Different, but energetically degenerate, vacua can be chosen in separate regions of space. As these regions expand, domain walls can form at their meeting point. Domain walls would act as a potential barrier between the different vacua and thus have a positive energy associated to them. If their length stretches large portions of space, then their total energy would be high enough for them to be detected. In conclusion, remnants can be expected from first order phase transitions and hope was that QCD or electroweak phase transition would have produced them. Detection of these remnants would offer us a valuable sneak peek into a yet unseen past and would directly put to test our theories. 11
13 Chapter 3 Electroweak Phase Transition 3.1 Reviewing the Higgs Mechanism A description of what electroweak phase transition means from the point of view of gauge symmetries is condensed in the following expression: SU(3) c SU(2) L U(1) Y SU(3) c U(1) EM (3.1) Physically, it describes the moment in our universe evolution when electric and weak forces differentiate. At temperature scales above 100 GeV, MSM Lagrangian exhibits the gauge symmetry: SU(3) c SU(2) L U(1) Y. SU(3) c refers to the color symmetry and plays no role in our rendition of the electroweak phase transition. From now on it will be neglected. SU(2) L is the symmetry group for transformations of the left fermions and it is associated to gauge fields W µ ± and Z µ. U(1) Y is the symmetry group for simple local phase transformations of the MSM Lagrangian and has associated the gauge field B µ. A Lagrangian obeying the above symmetries contains only massless gauge fields. But if the weak force mediators are massless, the force itself displays long range behavior (exactly as massless photons make electromagnetic forces long range). But this is not the situation encountered in nature. The challenge was then to create mass for W and Z bosons. Simply including mass terms for the gauge fields into the Lagrangian breaks its gauge invariance. The solution was eventually found by invoking the idea of spontaneous symmetry breaking. What it says is that the ground state of the system does not have to obey the symmetries of the Lagrangian. A typical Lagrangian predicts a manifold of equivalent ground states, but only one might be chosen by the system. By Goldstone theorem, this symmetry breaking leads to creation of massless bosons. The final act in the story comes with Higgs mechanism, by which massless gauge bosons absorb the degrees of freedom of the Goldstone would-be bosons to become massive. In our case, we must assume that at the electroweak phase transition s critical temperature spontaneously symmetry breaking and Higgs mechanism take place. In order to understand how temperature influences the electroweak phase transition, a brief review of how Higgs mechanism works is salutary. 12
14 3.1 Reviewing the Higgs Mechanism Electroweak Phase Transition Here we will introduce one of the simplest models for the Higgs mechanism [5, 6]. First step is to introduce in the theory a scalar doublet of the form: H = 1 ( ) 0 e iφ(a) t (F a ), (3.2) 2 ρ where t a (F ) = 1 2 τ a, while φ (a) and ρ are scalar fields (a = 1, 2, 3). If we add to the MSM Lagrangian the following Higgs Lagrangian, the gauge invariance is manifestly maintained: L Higgs = (D µ H) D µ H µ 2 H H λ(h H) 2, (3.3) where D µ = µ igw a µ t (F ) a ig B µ Y, (3.4) and Y = diag(1, 1) is the generator of hypercharge group U(1) Y in flavor space, and g, g are coupling constants. In unitary gauge, H assumes the simpler form H = 1 ( 0ρ ) 2. At this point we transformed away the φ (a) fields, which would have been the Goldstone bosons. Choosing in L Higgs, the parameter µ such that µ 2 < 0, we find the minima of the Higgs potential at: H = 1 ( ) 0 µ 2, v = 2 v λ, (3.5) where v 246 GeV is the vacuum expectation value. The choice of µ was such that H breaks the symmetries of the Lagrangian. Now generators of the gauge symmetry groups applied on this ground state no longer annihilate it. But we can still find just one combination of generators that annihilate it: t 3 + Y/2 = Q, (3.6) where Q is the generator of U(1) Q gauge symmetry group. This turns out to be exactly the gauge symmetry group of electromagnetism. Then the symmetry breaking is encapsulated in: SU(2) L U(1) Y U(1) EM. (3.7) Mirroring the work done in the previous chapter we could write: H = H + δh = 1 ( ) 0, (3.8) 2 v + h where h(x) is the Higgs boson and v is the vacuum expectation value. Expanding the covariant derivatives in (3.3), one obtains mass terms for W and Z bosons: m 2 Z = (g2 + g 2 )v 2 = ± GeV, 4 m 2 W = g2 v 2 = ± GeV ± 4 (3.9) 13
15 3.2 Electroweak Phase Transition Electroweak Phase Transition Now we can understand the importance of the non-zero expectation value v. Without symmetry breaking, v = 0 and the weak bosons lose their mass. Finally we note that in the same calculation in which we got m Z and m W, the Higgs boson acquires mass. Also the quarks get mass by their coupling to the H doublet within the Yukawa sector of the MSM Lagrangian. 3.2 Electroweak Phase Transition To determine the order of electroweak phase transition, the behavior of the effective potential must be analyzed. The effective potential V eff ( H ) contains information about vacuum s expectation value dependence on temperature. Similarly to the toy models developed in Ch. 2, it is found that at high temperature, the vacuum expectation value is zero, the ground state obeys the symmetries of the Lagrangian and weak gauge boson masses are zero. At a critical temperature T c m h /g (m h is Higgs mass and g, weak coupling constant) [7], we enter the broken phase where particles gain mass through Higgs mechanism. The best methods employed to construct the effective potential fall into two categories: perturbative calculations or lattice simulations. We will begin by reviewing the first option. Unlike QCD, perturbative methods are more successful here because the nature of the Higgs mechanism is itself perturbative. The main line of attacking the problem involves developing finite temperature effective field theories. The first step in obtaining V eff is to expand relevant field into a mean, homogenous part and one dependent on thermal fluctuations. Then this expression of the field is inserted into the action S. For a field φ(x) = φ 0 + δφ(x), the path integral will read [1]: Z = Dφ 0 Dδφ exp(is 0 [φ] + S 2 [φ 0, δφ] + S int [φ 0, δφ]), (3.10) where S 2 [φ 0, δφ] contain terms up to quadratic in δφ and S int [φ 0, δφ], higher order terms in fluctuations. Then a Taylor expansion of terms containing δφ is carried out to the desired order. In electroweak theory it was possible to go to 2-loop order in perturbations [1]. After this, δφ is integrated out, to obtain an effective action S eff dependent only on the mean expectation value of φ. Then V eff can be extracted from S eff and analyzed to yield the type of the phase transition, critical temperature, etc. Perturbative techniques present important limitations in electroweak theory. If the phase transition is a crossover or weakly first order, the relevant fields develop long range correlations that cannot be addressed within perturbation theory [1]. Also, each loop in the perturbative expansion bring a contribution of the order g 2 T/m. At phase transition light excitation with mass m g 2 T appear, such that an infrared divergences develop in the theory, and perturbation expansion breaks down [7]. 14
16 3.2 Electroweak Phase Transition Electroweak Phase Transition Better results come from lattice simulations. In order to make the problem more computationally tractable, dimensional reduction is applied to the original theory. From a 4d theory at finite temperature, a 3d SU(3) U(1)+ Higgs theory, effective theory with the following Lagrangian is obtained [8]: L = 1 4 F a ijf a ij B ijb ij + (D i H) D i H + m 2 3H H + λ 3 (H H) 2, (3.11) where F a ij = ia a j ja a i g 3ɛ abc A b i Ac j, B ij = i B j j B i, D i = i + ig 3 σ a A a i /2 + ig 3 B i/2 and the couplings g 3, g 3, m 3, λ 3 are functions dependent on temperature and 4d theory s couplings. Numerical treatment of 3d effective theory have yielded that within MSN, the transition is first order up to a Higgs mass m h = 72±2 GeV [9]. But LEP measurements have excluded m h < 115 GeV. In conclusion, electroweak phase transition is most likely a crossover. That means no remnants are to be expected from this transition. T sym. phase 1st order broken phase 2nd order smooth crossover 75 GeV m H Figure 3.1: Electroweak crossover phase transition in MSM [10]. These conclusions hold only within MSM. The electroweak phase transition in MSSM (Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model) was also thoroughly analyzed through lattice simulation [11] and it was proved that strong first order transition occurs at higher values of m h 95 GeV. Other calculations showed that for m h 116 GeV a first order transition still takes place [12]. Vindication of supersymmetric models at LHC could thus bring electroweak theory in a position to explain one of the biggest problems in cosmology: matter-antimatter asymmetry. We will end the chapter with a short description of how a first order electroweak phase transition could solve this problem. During bubble nucleation, thermal equilibrium is broken inside bubble walls. This gives rise to charges that diffuse outside the bubbles in the symmetric phase and CP violating currents form [13]. There, due to the currents and unsuppressed sphaleron transition, it becomes energetically favorable for the system to gain a non-zero baryon number. As bubble walls expand, baryon asymmetries are absorbed into the broken phase [13]. Thus an initial small excess of mater over antimatter can lead during universe expansion to matter domination at matter-radiation equality z eq = 3230 ± 210 [1]. 15
17 Chapter 4 QCD Phase Transition 4.1 QCD Phase Transition as Deconfinement After the electroweak phase transition, the universe cools further more, until temperatures reach scales O(100 MeV). A new phase transition is predicted there: the QCD phase transition. At asymptotic high temperatures, the QCD coupling constant g s 0, such that quarks behave like free particles. They are said to form a quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Although the running of QCD coupling constant indicates an increase in g s as temperature drops, at sufficient high temperatures (T O(1 GeV)), perturbative treatment of QGP can be considered exact. Analytical perturbative calculations encounter problems at scales of interest O(100 MeV), when we can no longer assume g s 1 [3]. With increase in strength of the strong force, the QGP plasma of weakly interactive quarks gets replaced with the more familiar hadronic phase in which quark appear bound in baryons and mesons. This phenomena is called confinement and is the perspective on the QCD phase transition explored in this section. Because baryons and mesons are color neutral, while (colored) quarks are encountered only at small scales, inside the hadrons, the confinement phase transition can be cast into symmetry breaking language as: SU(3) c U(1) EM U(1) EM, (4.1) where color symmetry group is broken to electromagnetism s symmetry group. Note that this is only a matter of speaking, as direct breaking of SU(3) c would lead to massive gluons. Here (4.1) only suggests quark confinement. The most important questions raised in the study of the QCD phase transitions are: What is the type of this transition? What is its critical temperature? How does one determines quantitatively the phase diagram? Perturbative techniques in determining characteristics of hadronic and QGP phases at temperatures T O(100 MeV) fail, as coupling constant g s diverges at that order. The best avenues for exploring the phase transition either involve phe- 16
18 4.2 The Bag Model and the QCD Phase Transition QCD Phase Transition nomenological models like the MIT bag model or lattice QCD simulations. The most precise proved to be the latter ones. Figure 4.1: QCD phase diagram obtained through lattice simulation. Endpoint E determined by T E = 162 ± 2 MeV and µ E = 360 ± 40 MeV. Data taken from [14]. Monte Carlo simulations were able to reproduce with good accuracy a large part of the (µ, T )-phase diagram, up to chemical potential O(400 MeV) ( neutron star densities) where they break down. As it can be see from Fig. 4.1, lattice simulations revealed that cosmological QCD phase transition was most probably a crossover [14]. The universe evolves at small baryon chemical potential µ and high temperature T, such that its path on the (µ, T )-diagram takes it to the left from the endpoint E. The endpoint marks a second order phase transition as limit case of a first order phase transition and was determined accurately (see, Fig. 4.1). If QCD phase transition is a crossover, then most likely there are no remnants of it in today s universe. Critical temperature T c was determined during the same simulations: T c = 164 ± 2 MeV (4.2) At this point we leave lattice calculations to develop a simple phenomenological model that enables us to determine deconfinement critical temperature close to the lattice value (4.2). 4.2 The Bag Model and the QCD Phase Transition If we adopt the point of viewing the QCD phase transition as (de)confinement, we can produce a simple calculation of its critical temperature T c. This can be done using a simplified version of the bag model [15]. Our bag model treats hadrons like little bubbles or bags in which the quarks are to be treated as free particles. This models the asymptotic freedom of QCD. Quarks are confined into hadrons and cannot break out of the bags. To achieve confinement, the model assumes a bag constant B for the region of free quarks. This is done to 17
19 4.2 The Bag Model and the QCD Phase Transition QCD Phase Transition simulate a pressure exerted by the bulk vacuum, keeping quarks confined. If we consider the hadrons approximately spherical, with a radius R, the energy associated with the existence of B is just 4π 3 R3 B. There is also a kinetic energy associated with the free quarks which can be determined from the uncertainty principle to be 1/R. Adding these contribution to the hadron energy E H results in: E H = 4π 3 R3 B + C R, (4.3) where C is a constant determined by minimizing E H with respect to R: C = 4πBR 4. (4.4) Eliminating C in E H and equating energy and hadron mass M, we find: M = 16π 3 R3 B. (4.5) To determine an average value for the bag constant B, we take the average hadron mass M 1GeV. As a result: B 1/4 200 MeV. We also note that the inward, confining pressure is directly proportional to B: P = V E H = B + C/4πR 4. To find the critical temperature T c of the phase transition between confined and deconfined phases, we will introduce a series of simplifying assumptions. Firstly, at transition temperature, only the lightest quarks u and d are considered. Because of the high temperature, it is justifiable to work in the ultrarelativistic limit, where the mass of the relevant quarks and antiquarks is approximately zero. In the hadron phase, near T c, the dominant hadrons are the lightest mesons, the pions π ± and π 0. The final assumption consists in taking baryon chemical potential µ = 0. This assumptions allows one to consider both hadrons in the broken phase and QGP in the symmetric phase as ultrarelativistic fluids, such that an expression for their pressure is easily computed. To determine the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom, we consider for hadronic fluid pressure, P H, the three charge state of the pion and the negative pressure due to the presence of the bag constant B and for QGP pressure, P QGP, we take into account 8 gluons with 2 helicity states, 2 quarks, 2 antiquarks, each with 2 helicity states and 3 colors, and the usual fermionic statistic factor 7/8 [1]. The result reads: P H = 3 π2 T 4 90 B, P QGP = } {{ 8 } {{ } } gluons quarks π 2 T (4.6) At the critical temperature T c we can the invoke equality of pressure in the two phases, such that from (4.6) and B 1/4 200 MeV we obtain: ( ) 45B 1/4 T c = 17π MeV. (4.7) 18
20 4.3 QCD Phase Transition as Chiral Symmetry Breaking QCD Phase Transition In conclusion, we found that at zero chemical potential a first order phase transition is expected between hadronic and QGP phases. As we have seen from the phase diagram, this findings are invalidated once the mass of the quarks is switched on. The tendency observed is that the first transition line retracts to higher µ, such that at µ = 0 we only encounter a crossover. On the plus side, the critical temperature obtained here is certainly close to the value predicted by lattice simulations T c 164 MeV. The last observations concern general limitations of the bag model. This model was constructed on phenomenological grounds without being derived from the QCD Lagrangian. Although it helps organizing our physical intuition about the processes occurring at T c, it fails in delivering good results at high µ [15]. Also by considering from the beginning a difference of phases at the hadron bag limit, it has a built in bias towards predicting a first order phase transition. In any respect, numerical results obtained in lattice QCD remain superior to its predictions. 4.3 QCD Phase Transition as Chiral Symmetry Breaking Deconfinement is not the only perspective to look at the QCD phase transition. It can also be read as a chiral symmetry breaking. For simplicity, we will consider again only the lightest quarks: u, d, and s. In the QGP phase quarks already have mass gained at electroweak phase transition temperature scales, from Yukawa sector of MSM Lagrangian. But their mass is still very small, such that in ultrarelativistic aproximation it can be neglected. To get a sense of the numbers in question: from a mass comparable to electron mass (0.511 MeV), they reach through chiral symmetry breaking the value 1/3 nucleon mass (940 MeV) [16]. Then arguably in QGP quarks obey the approximate symmetry SU(3) L + SU(3) R. As the system approaches critical temperature T c, the strength of the strong interaction between quarks increases such that quark-antiquark pairs form. After T c the vacuum state contains such pairs, such that the vacuum expectation value of a pair becomes non-zero: ψ L ψ R + ψ R ψ L 0. (4.8) Left and right fermions in a pair have opposite momenta and the total angular momentum of a pair is zero. Chiral symmetry breaking refers to this effect: the ground state of the system no longer obeys the chiral symmetry of the Lagrangian. The ground state is only invariant to fine tuned left and right rotations (in flavor space). Then the chiral symmetry breaking is abbreviated in the following expression: SU(3) L + SU(3) R SU(3) L+R. (4.9) Fermions moving in the non-zero expectation value ψψ vacuum gain mass. The process can be intuitively summed in the following way: A right helicity quark in- 19
21 4.4 High Density QCD: The CFL Phase QCD Phase Transition teracts with the condensate (4.8) and is annihilated by the right helicity antiquark. Then a left quark remains to move in vacuum with the same momentum. The observer just sees a particle which has changed its helicity, which means a particle with mass. The rate at which quarks change their helicities is proportional to (4.8). This process describes how quarks get dynamical-generated mass [16]. The chiral symmetry breaking has further consequences. Associated to each broken symmetry there is a massless Goldstone boson. In our approximate symmetry breaking (4.9), the associated bosons gain mass from the initial quark masses. It can be proved that pions are such associated particles, and their mass can be predicted accordingly ( 140 MeV) [17]. As lattice simulations for the QCD phase transition yield one set of values, the two perspectives of seeing the phase transition must be complementary. It is not fully understood how deconfinement and chiral symmetry breaking describe the same phenomena. However some analogy between them can be drawn. Quarks particles bouncing from the bag surface reverse their momentum, but keep the same angular momentum. So they change their helicity at the surface. This process can be seen as helicity changing interaction with pairs in the bulk vacuum. So the bags can be conceived as bubbles of ψψ = 0 in a ψψ 0 surrounding phase [16]. 4.4 High Density QCD: The CFL Phase On the QCD phase diagram, the universe as a whole follows the path of small baryon chemical potential µ and high temperatures. But in recent years the theorists interests was also captured by phase transitions happening at relatively small temperature and high µ. This limit is not encountered in the early universe, but there is hope to be realized in astrophysical objects of very high density, such as neutron stars. Working in the limit µ T made QCD more theoretically tractable and enabled construction of models that comprehensively predict the behavior of the system. The central argument explaining the simplification of QCD calculations revolves again around the idea of asymptotic freedom. At high densities or small distances the coupling between quarks becomes small, such that a perturbative treatment should become possible. But this is not entirely true, as perturbative expansions carried around the ground state, Fermi sphere, are plagued by infrared divergences [18]. This problem was eventually solved by invoking color superconductivity. In a movement reminiscent of condensed matter theory, it was found that quark matter at high µ can undergo transitions to superconductive phases in which a version of Meissner effect takes place, such that infrared divergences disappear with gluons gaining mass. Among these superconductive phases, we will focus here on the colorflavor locking (CFL) phase and the transition leading to it. How does color superconductivity come into the QCD picture? At high densities of quarks, the system can be considered to form a degenerate Fermi gas. Even though we encounter typical temperatures of O(10 MeV), they imply only small 20
22 4.4 High Density QCD: The CFL Phase QCD Phase Transition fluctuations around the Fermi sphere (for example, in neutron stars µ MeV). Thus we can conclude that Fermi energy E F is approximately equal to the baryon chemical potential µ. Further more, the strong interactions are weaker due to high µ. So, if interactions are for the moment neglected, this implies that adding a particle or a pair of particles to the system does not change the free energy F. F = E µn, and adding a particle, N = 1, leads to F = E F µ 0. Now, if we factor in the strong interaction, that means that the free energy will be diminished with the strength of that interaction. That further implies that pair of quarks are energetically favored to form at the Fermi surface, such that F is lowered. Thus the true ground state will be formed by condensates of quarks antisymmetric in color. This phenomena is similar to the one encountered in BCS theory, where the ground state is formed by condensates of electrons. Actually, in high µ QCD, we are in a better position than in ordinary BCS theory. There, electrons form pairs overcoming the Coulomb repulsion through phonon interactions. But this fact makes the pairs very sensitive to temperature increase. Quark pairings are in this respect much more robust as the strong force is naturally attractive and greater (even with the trend set by the running of the QCD coupling constant). So more energy is necessary to break the pairs. This in turn leads to higher energy gaps ( MeV [18]) and hence to superconductivity. A further consequence of pairing quarks antisymmetric in color is that local color symmetry SU(3) c gets broken [19]. A similar process to Higgs mechanism takes place: the gauge bosons, which in this case are the gluons, get mass by the presence of a non-zero vacuum expectation value provided by quark pairs. What is the form of the quark condensate? The prevalent models of QCD at high baryon chemical potential µ consider an idealized version of QCD in which only the three lightest quarks in our system: u, d and s play a role [18]. Still, there are more then one way to form these condensates, as quarks display flavor, color and spin degrees of freedom. In the following, we will consider the CFL phase which is dominant to the highest values of the baryon chemical potential µ. The argument for CFL is that it couples all the quarks, "leaving the maximal unbroken symmetry group" [18]. Thus all gluons gain mass and all infrared divergences are eluded. Also it leads to the highest energy gaps as the free energy is lowered the most (due to interactions among all three quarks). These features made the CFL phase the most attractive to the theorist and subsequently the best investigated. The form of the CFL condensate reads [18]: ψ aα il (p)ψ bβ jl ( p)ɛ ab = ψ aα ir (p)ψ bβ jr ( p)ɛ ab = (p 2 )ɛ αβa ɛ ija, (4.10) where (a, b) denote spinor indices, (i, j) flavor indices and (α, β) color indices, while denotes the energy gap. The summed index A makes possible to write: ɛ αβa ɛ ija = δ α i δ β j δα j δ β i. (4.11) This explains the name of the CFL phase. We see color indices coupled to flavor indices in a specific way. But QCD obeys the following local symmetries: SU(3) c 21
23 4.4 High Density QCD: The CFL Phase QCD Phase Transition SU(3) L SU(3) R [19], where SU(3) L,R are flavor symmetries of the 3 quarks. By coupling flavor and color indices, the ground state is no longer invariant under independent color and flavor symmetries. Chiral symmetry is indirectly broken by the having both SU(3) L and SU(3) R locked to the color symmetry. Thus the system is invariant only under combined color and flavor transformation: this is CFL, color-flavor locking. In short, the symmetry breaking is illustrated here: SU(3) c SU(3) L SU(3) R U(1) B SU(3) c+l+r Z 2. (4.12) U(1) B denotes the baryon number symmetry and it is broken to Z 2 symmetry under which quark fields are multiplied by 1 [18]. By completely breaking the color symmetry, all gluons acquire the same mass [1]: m 2 G = g2 sµ 2 2π 2 + g2 st 2 2, (4.13) and a version of Meissner effect for strong interactions takes place. But interestingly enough, there remains an unbroken U(1) symmetry. Remember that at electroweak scale SU(2) L U(1) Y is broken to electromagnetism U(1) Q such that W and Z bosons acquire a mass; but there is a combination of generators t 3 + Y/2 = Q that annihilates the ground state, defining the unbroken U(1) Q, such that electromagnetic forces mediated by photons remain long range. Similarly, in CFL, if we introduce the (up to now) neglected U(1) Q of electromagnetism in (4.12), there is a combination of generators that annihilate the ground state [18]: with T 8 a generator of the color group: Q = Q T 8, (4.14) Q = diag( 2 3, 1 3, 1 3 ) T 8 = 1 2 diag( 2, 1, 1) in flavor u, d, s space in color r, g, b space (4.15) Thus we talk about a modified photon õ to which the superconductor is transparent and about an associated modified long range electromagnetic force. Regular light would be refracted inside the color superconducting as Q-light, and a Q-field, inside, would obey Maxwell equations. Within the CFL phase, at chemical potential µ > 10 8 MeV, perturbative calculation could be carried rigorously, such that from QCD Lagrangian gap energy was obtained [19]. Effective theories and renormalization group were devised to make the theory work at lower chemical potentials µ. Using initially renormalization group techniques near Fermi surface and assuming that CFL remains valid for µ on the order of neutron stars, the expression of the calculated gap energy reads [20]: bµ gs 5 e c/gs 22 with c = 3π2 2 (4.16)
24 4.5 Looking for the QGP QCD Phase Transition with the estimate b 512π 4 2 1/3 (2/3) 5/2 [18]. Furthermore, from the gap equation, the critical temperature to CFL phase was found [19]: T c MeV. (4.17) T heavy ion collider QGP hadronic non CFL gas liq CFL nuclear superfluid neutron star µ Figure 4.2: QCD phase diagram [19]. There are to this date no experiments to investigate the CFL phase (or the transition to it). The critical temperature T c is far too low to be explored in heavy ion collisions. It is theorized that CFL could be realized in neutron stars, but it is not sure if µ 400 MeV is enough for CFL to form. Most likely nuclear matter or color superconducting phases different than CFL form most of a neutron star s core. Even assuming the presence of an inner core CFL phase, its signature would be highly elusive, as a color superconducting core would be essentially inert, with little influence on the parameters describing the behavior of the star [18]. Still some speculative experiments were proposed for detecting the CFL [18, 19]. As an example, we will be touching one of them. During a supernova event, a neutron star constitutes the remnant due to gravitational collapse of the core of exploding massive star. In a few seconds the stars cool from 50 MeV to 10MeV [16] by emitting neutrinos. If CFL is realized in the neutron star, the neutrinos pass without scattering from the superconducting core, as they have smaller energy than the gap ; otherwise they scatter from the core. Then it should be possible to detect a difference between supernovae in which a CFL neutron star is formed or not by noting the delay in emitted neutrinos. When scattering is involved, the main neutrino flux lasts seconds, while, if CFL is realized, the flux should last much less. 4.5 Looking for the QGP Lacking direct astrophysical data about the QCD phase transition, much effort was invested in recreating the quark-gluon plasma phase in laboratory conditions. The 23
25 4.5 Looking for the QGP QCD Phase Transition avenue followed involves experiments with heavy ions (S, Pb or Au) in relativistic collisions. The first experiments were undertaken at Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) at CERN and at Alternative Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) in Brookhaven using fixed target nuclei. Later on, starting in 2000, experiments begun at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in Brookhaven at much higher energies in CM and with better results. We will focus here on the RHIC experiments [21, 22]. The issue of weather QGP phase appears in such collisions will hopefully be settled at the LHC, with experiments at the ALICE detector. In the RHIC experiments, gold nuclei were used in collision Au+Au, with 200 AGeV available in CM. The purpose was to create the conditions for deconfinement inside the initial fireball. The collision process is envisaged taking place in the following stages [16]. Relativistic gold nuclei crash together creating a fireball in which QGP phase is formed. As the fireball expands and cools, a transition to the hadronic phase takes place. At this point hadron composition is fixed and we talk about chemical freeze-out. Shortly after, within the expanding fireball, interactions rates among particles are insufficient to maintain thermal equilibrium, such that thermal freeze-out occurs. At this point the hadrons become free streaming and reach the detectors. Information about the conditions inside the initial fireball must be deduced from the last scattering surface at thermal freeze-out Tc (a) QGP (b) hadronic fluid Tc (c) free-streaming hadrons (d) 1100 Figure 4.3: Stages in relativistic heavy-ion collisions [16]. Are these stages really describing the actual collision process? Are the conditions for deconfinement met? As the transition to QGP is predicted to take place at a critical temperature T c 175 MeV, first condition is to attain enough energy during the collision process. With knowledge of the kinetic energy of the particles reaching detectors, it was possible, from an energy loss calculation, to predict the energy available in the small volume of the fireball [22]. The energy density ɛ pre- 24
26 4.5 Looking for the QGP QCD Phase Transition dicted is ɛ 5 GeV/fm 2, which is 5 times the energy density required to reach te lattice calculated T c [21]. The condition for the simple two phase transition model to apply is that chemical and thermodynamical equilibrium is attained in the system. This is not a trivial matter due to the highly violent nature of the collision process and due to the short lifetime t of the initial fireball, t 10 fm/c [21]. Presence of chemical and thermodynamical equilibrium is supported by evidence obtained from considering ratios of detected particles. At T c with a baryon chemical potential µ = 29 MeV, these ratios are well described by statistical models that assume equilibrium [22]. The idea of thermodynamical equilibrium is also supported by the particle momentum spectra obtained at RHIC. It turns out that the flow of particles is well described by ideal hydrodynamical calculation assuming an ideal relativistic fluid flow (of the QGP type) in the center of the fireball, very early in its lifetime (t 1fm/c), and thus implying an early thermalization [21]. But as there is still work to be done investigating the sensitivity of the hydrodynamical calculations and predictions to the various parameters in the process, we cannot identify the QGP phase on this basis alone. Even if the idea that conditions for QGP phase to form are met gets more and more experimental support, the next issue to be solved remains weather QGP is truly realized in the fireball. Here we will focus on two phenomena that seem to indicate the presence of the QGP state: strangeness enhancement and J/ψ suppression. Strangeness enhancement refers to the fact that an unusual abundance of baryons containing the strange quark s, Λ(uds), Ξ(ssd) and Ω(sss), was detected in the particle flow, at RHIC [16]. Explanation of this effect invokes the presence of QGP as a medium in which strange quarks are actually lighter due to restoration of chiral symmetry. Then higher densities of gluons lead to the opening of pair strange production channel by gluon fusion gg ss. This creates the necessary conditions for having a population of strange baryons larger with more then a factor 10 in comparison to the one obtained at similar energy in pp and pa collisions. J/ψ suppression refers to the relative scarcity of the J/ψ (cc) meson in comparison with pa collisions at similar energies. The presence of QGP is again invoked to explain this effect. Inside the plasma the quark interaction is exponentially suppressed [16]: V (r) = C r e r/λ D, (4.18) where λ D is the Debye screening length. As the equivalent Bohr radius for the charm quark c falls bellow λ D, pairs of cc tend to dissociate. Thus, the numbers of J/ψ mesons are greatly reduced. All these effects are indirect proof of the presence of the QGP phase. Future experiments to begin late in 2009 at LHC, carried at larger energies, will produce longer living fireballs at higher temperatures. The likeliness to produce the QGP phase is thus greatly increased. Also the above described signs of the QGP will 25
27 4.5 Looking for the QGP QCD Phase Transition gain sharpness as higher energetic jets of particles will be easier to analyze, thus helping us map the contents of the fireball. 26
28 Chapter 5 Conclusions We have shown that universe s evolution from electroweak to QCD phase transition can be considered a walk on the boulevard of broken symmetries: SU(3) c SU(2) L U(1) Y EW P T SU(3) c U(1) EM QCDP T U(1) EM, (5.1) At critical temperature, breaking symmetries was directly related to how order parameters in these transitions gain non-zero expectation value. This led to changes in behavior of relevant forces, because their mediators become massive. In the particular case of QCD phase transition, the color group is broken only in the sense of confinement of quarks into hadrons. It was also possible to read the QCD phase transition as an approximate chiral symmetry breaking: SU(3) L SU(3) R QCDP T SU(3) L+R, (5.2) where lightest quarks u, d and s were considered initially massless. Within MSM, both transitions turned out to be crossovers, such that detectable remnants are not expected from them. The transitions phase diagrams were discussed and relevant critical temperatures were listed. In QCD case, the critical temperature was determined analytically within a simple phenomenological model. Supersymmetric extensions to MSM allowed electroweak phase transition to become first order and this was shown to potentially explain today s matterantimatter asymmetry. At high densities and low temperatures on the QCD phase diagram, we discovered the color-flavor locking phase. This was proved to be a color superconductive state in which a version of Meissner effect takes place: gluons become massive after the breaking of SU(3) color symmetry group. Using experimental arguments, quark-gluon plasma phase was found to be most likely realized in RHIC experiments. Further experimental data to bring complete consensus on the issue are expected from LHC s ALICE detector. 27
29 Bibliography [1] T. Prokopec, Lecture notes for cosmology: The standard cosmological model, 2008, prokopec/2scm.pdf. [2] A. Rajantie, (2003), hep-ph/ , Lectures given at COSLAB Workshop on Cosmological Phase Transitions and Topological Defects, Porto, Portugal, May [3] V. Mukhanov, Physical Foundations of Cosmology (Cambridge University Press, 2005). [4] J. I. Kapusta and C. Gale, Finite-Temperature Field Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2006). [5] S. Dawson, (2008), hep-ph/ [6] E. Laenen, Lecture notes on standard model, [7] M. Laine, (20), hep-ph/ [8] K. Kajantie, M. Laine, K. Rummukainen, and M. E. Shaposhnikov, Nucl. Phys. B493, 413 (1997), hep-lat/ [9] K. Rummukainen, M. Tsypin, K. Kajantie, M. Laine, and M. E. Shaposhnikov, Nucl. Phys. B532, 283 (1998), hep-lat/ [10] J. M. Cline, (2006), hep-ph/ , Lectures given at Les Houches Summer School - Session 86: Particle Physics and Cosmology: The Fabric of Spacetime, Les Houches, France, 31 Jul - 25 Aug [11] M. Laine and K. Rummukainen, Nucl. Phys. B535, 423 (1998), heplat/ [12] J. M. Cline and G. D. Moore, Phys. Rev. Lett. 81, 3315 (1998), hep-ph/ [13] A. Riotto, Theories of baryogenesis, in Trieste 1998, High energy physics and cosmology, pp , 1998, hep-ph/ [14] Z. Fodor and S. D. Katz, JHEP 04, 050 (2004), hep-lat/
30 BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY [15] M. Le Bellac, Thermal Field Theory (Cambridge University Press, 1996). [16] S. Hands, Contemp. Phys. 42, 209 (20), physics/ [17] M. E. Peskin and D. V. Schroeder, An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (Perseus Books, 1995). [18] K. Rajagopal and F. Wilczek, (2000), hep-ph/ [19] M. G. Alford, A. Schmitt, K. Rajagopal, and T. Schafer, Rev. Mod. Phys. 80, 1455 (2008), hep-ph/ [20] D. T. Son, Phys. Rev. D59, 0949 (1999), hep-ph/ [21] BNL Report No , 2005 (unpublished), pr/docs/hunting-the-qgp.pdf. [22] T. Ludlam, Nucl. Phys. A750, 9 (2005). 29
Theoretical Particle Physics FYTN04: Oral Exam Questions, version ht15
Theoretical Particle Physics FYTN04: Oral Exam Questions, version ht15 Examples of The questions are roughly ordered by chapter but are often connected across the different chapters. Ordering is as in
UN PICCOLO BIG BANG IN LABORATORIO: L'ESPERIMENTO ALICE AD LHC
UN PICCOLO BIG BANG IN LABORATORIO: L'ESPERIMENTO ALICE AD LHC Parte 1: Carlos A. Salgado Universidade de Santiago de Compostela [email protected] http://cern.ch/csalgado LHC physics program Fundamental
Concepts in Theoretical Physics
Concepts in Theoretical Physics Lecture 6: Particle Physics David Tong e 2 The Structure of Things 4πc 1 137 e d ν u Four fundamental particles Repeated twice! va, 9608085, 9902033 Four fundamental forces
Spontaneous symmetry breaking in particle physics: a case of cross fertilization
Spontaneous symmetry breaking in particle physics: a case of cross fertilization Yoichiro Nambu lecture presented by Giovanni Jona-Lasinio Nobel Lecture December 8, 2008 1 / 25 History repeats itself 1960
Perfect Fluidity in Cold Atomic Gases?
Perfect Fluidity in Cold Atomic Gases? Thomas Schaefer North Carolina State University 1 Hydrodynamics Long-wavelength, low-frequency dynamics of conserved or spontaneoulsy broken symmetry variables τ
1 Introduction. 1 There may, of course, in principle, exist other universes, but they are not accessible to our
1 1 Introduction Cosmology is the study of the universe as a whole, its structure, its origin, and its evolution. Cosmology is soundly based on observations, mostly astronomical, and laws of physics. These
0.33 d down 1 1. 0.33 c charm + 2 3. 0 0 1.5 s strange 1 3. 0 0 0.5 t top + 2 3. 0 0 172 b bottom 1 3
Chapter 16 Constituent Quark Model Quarks are fundamental spin- 1 particles from which all hadrons are made up. Baryons consist of three quarks, whereas mesons consist of a quark and an anti-quark. There
Masses in Atomic Units
Nuclear Composition - the forces binding protons and neutrons in the nucleus are much stronger (binding energy of MeV) than the forces binding electrons to the atom (binding energy of ev) - the constituents
Gauge theories and the standard model of elementary particle physics
Gauge theories and the standard model of elementary particle physics Mark Hamilton 21st July 2014 1 / 35 Table of contents 1 The standard model 2 3 2 / 35 The standard model The standard model is the most
Basic Concepts in Nuclear Physics
Basic Concepts in Nuclear Physics Paolo Finelli Corso di Teoria delle Forze Nucleari 2011 Literature/Bibliography Some useful texts are available at the Library: Wong, Nuclear Physics Krane, Introductory
Axion/Saxion Cosmology Revisited
Axion/Saxion Cosmology Revisited Masahiro Yamaguchi (Tohoku University) Based on Nakamura, Okumura, MY, PRD77 ( 08) and Work in Progress 1. Introduction Fine Tuning Problems of Particle Physics Smallness
Standard Model of Particle Physics
Standard Model of Particle Physics Chris Sachrajda School of Physics and Astronomy University of Southampton Southampton SO17 1BJ UK SUSSP61, St Andrews August 8th 3rd 006 Contents 1. Spontaneous Symmetry
Particle Physics. Michaelmas Term 2011 Prof Mark Thomson. Handout 7 : Symmetries and the Quark Model. Introduction/Aims
Particle Physics Michaelmas Term 2011 Prof Mark Thomson Handout 7 : Symmetries and the Quark Model Prof. M.A. Thomson Michaelmas 2011 206 Introduction/Aims Symmetries play a central role in particle physics;
Big Bang Cosmology. Big Bang vs. Steady State
Big Bang vs. Steady State Big Bang Cosmology Perfect cosmological principle: universe is unchanging in space and time => Steady-State universe - Bondi, Hoyle, Gold. True? No! Hubble s Law => expansion
The Higgs Boson. Linac08 Victoria BC, Canada CANADA S NATIONAL LABORATORY FOR PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS
CANADA S NATIONAL LABORATORY FOR PARTICLE AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS Owned and operated as a joint venture by a consortium of Canadian universities via a contribution through the National Research Council Canada
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PHYSICS MASTER OF SCIENCES IN PHYSICS (MS PHYS) (LIST OF COURSES BY SEMESTER, THESIS OPTION)
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PHYSICS Admission Requirements 1. Possession of a BS degree from a reputable institution or, for non-physics majors, a GPA of 2.5 or better in at least 15 units in the following advanced
Cross section, Flux, Luminosity, Scattering Rates
Cross section, Flux, Luminosity, Scattering Rates Table of Contents Paul Avery (Andrey Korytov) Sep. 9, 013 1 Introduction... 1 Cross section, flux and scattering... 1 3 Scattering length λ and λ ρ...
High Energy Physics. Lecture 4 More kinematics and a picture show of particle collisions
High Energy Physics Lecture 4 More kinematics and a picture show of particle collisions 1 Recall from the previous lecture: the momentum of the scattered Particle in an elastic collision is given by p
Feynman diagrams. 1 Aim of the game 2
Feynman diagrams Contents 1 Aim of the game 2 2 Rules 2 2.1 Vertices................................ 3 2.2 Anti-particles............................. 3 2.3 Distinct diagrams...........................
2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126.
Chapter 5 Nuclear Shell Model 5.1 Magic Numbers The binding energies predicted by the Liquid Drop Model underestimate the actual binding energies of magic nuclei for which either the number of neutrons
A Theory for the Cosmological Constant and its Explanation of the Gravitational Constant
A Theory for the Cosmological Constant and its Explanation of the Gravitational Constant H.M.Mok Radiation Health Unit, 3/F., Saiwanho Health Centre, Hong Kong SAR Govt, 8 Tai Hong St., Saiwanho, Hong
Low- and high-energy neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts
Low- and high-energy neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts Hylke B.J. Koers Low- and high-energy neutrinos from gamma-ray bursts Hylke B.J. Koers HK and Ralph Wijers, MNRAS 364 (2005), 934 (astro-ph/0505533)
Perfect Fluids: From Nano to Tera
Perfect Fluids: From Nano to Tera Thomas Schaefer North Carolina State University 1 2 Perfect Fluids sqgp (T=180 MeV) Neutron Matter (T=1 MeV) Trapped Atoms (T=0.1 nev) 3 Hydrodynamics Long-wavelength,
Weak Interactions: towards the Standard Model of Physics
Weak Interactions: towards the Standard Model of Physics Weak interactions From β-decay to Neutral currents Weak interactions: are very different world CP-violation: power of logics and audacity Some experimental
Particle Physics. The Standard Model. A New Periodic Table
5 Particle Physics This lecture is about particle physics, the study of the fundamental building blocks of Nature and the forces between them. We call our best theory of particle physics the Standard Model
Heating & Cooling in Molecular Clouds
Lecture 8: Cloud Stability Heating & Cooling in Molecular Clouds Balance of heating and cooling processes helps to set the temperature in the gas. This then sets the minimum internal pressure in a core
Localization of scalar fields on Branes with an Asymmetric geometries in the bulk
Localization of scalar fields on Branes with an Asymmetric geometries in the bulk Vladimir A. Andrianov in collaboration with Alexandr A. Andrianov V.A.Fock Department of Theoretical Physics Sankt-Petersburg
1. Degenerate Pressure
. Degenerate Pressure We next consider a Fermion gas in quite a different context: the interior of a white dwarf star. Like other stars, white dwarfs have fully ionized plasma interiors. The positively
Lecture 3 Fluid Dynamics and Balance Equa6ons for Reac6ng Flows
Lecture 3 Fluid Dynamics and Balance Equa6ons for Reac6ng Flows 3.- 1 Basics: equations of continuum mechanics - balance equations for mass and momentum - balance equations for the energy and the chemical
EQUATION OF STATE. e (E µ)/kt ± 1 h 3 dp,
EQUATION OF STATE Consider elementary cell in a phase space with a volume x y z p x p y p z = h 3, (st.1) where h = 6.63 1 7 erg s is the Planck constant, x y z is volume in ordinary space measured in
Basic Nuclear Concepts
Section 7: In this section, we present a basic description of atomic nuclei, the stored energy contained within them, their occurrence and stability Basic Nuclear Concepts EARLY DISCOVERIES [see also Section
College of Arts and Sciences
Note: It is assumed that all prerequisites include, in addition to any specific course listed, the phrase or equivalent, or consent of instructor. 105 SICS AND ASTRONOMY TODAY. (1) This course is intended
SUSY Breaking and Axino Cosmology
SUSY Breaking and Axino Cosmology Masahiro Yamaguchi Tohoku University Nov. 10, 2010 ExDiP2010@KEK, Japan 1. Introduction Fine Tuning Problems of Particle Physics Smallness of electroweak scale Smallness
Topic 3. Evidence for the Big Bang
Topic 3 Primordial nucleosynthesis Evidence for the Big Bang! Back in the 1920s it was generally thought that the Universe was infinite! However a number of experimental observations started to question
Physics 9e/Cutnell. correlated to the. College Board AP Physics 1 Course Objectives
Physics 9e/Cutnell correlated to the College Board AP Physics 1 Course Objectives Big Idea 1: Objects and systems have properties such as mass and charge. Systems may have internal structure. Enduring
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis The emergence of elements in the universe Benjamin Topper Abstract. In this paper, I will first give a brief overview of what general relativity has to say about cosmology, getting
Introduction to SME and Scattering Theory. Don Colladay. New College of Florida Sarasota, FL, 34243, U.S.A.
June 2012 Introduction to SME and Scattering Theory Don Colladay New College of Florida Sarasota, FL, 34243, U.S.A. This lecture was given at the IUCSS summer school during June of 2012. It contains a
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY. PH 318- Introduction to superconductors 1
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY property of complete disappearance of electrical resistance in solids when they are cooled below a characteristic temperature. This temperature is called transition temperature or critical
Extensions of the Standard Model (part 2)
Extensions of the Standard Model (part 2) Prof. Jorgen D Hondt Vrije Universiteit Brussel Inter-university Institute for High Energies Content: The Higgs sector of the Standard Model and extensions Theoretical
How To Find The Higgs Boson
Dezső Horváth: Search for Higgs bosons Balaton Summer School, Balatongyörök, 07.07.2009 p. 1/25 Search for Higgs bosons Balaton Summer School, Balatongyörök, 07.07.2009 Dezső Horváth MTA KFKI Research
6 J - vector electric current density (A/m2 )
Determination of Antenna Radiation Fields Using Potential Functions Sources of Antenna Radiation Fields 6 J - vector electric current density (A/m2 ) M - vector magnetic current density (V/m 2 ) Some problems
Pearson Physics Level 30 Unit VIII Atomic Physics: Chapter 17 Solutions
Pearson Physics Level 30 Unit VIII Atomic Physics: Chapter 17 Solutions Student Book page 831 Concept Check Since neutrons have no charge, they do not create ions when passing through the liquid in a bubble
White Dwarf Properties and the Degenerate Electron Gas
White Dwarf Properties and the Degenerate Electron Gas Nicholas Rowell April 10, 2008 Contents 1 Introduction 2 1.1 Discovery....................................... 2 1.2 Survey Techniques..................................
QCD MADE SIMPLE Quantum chromodynamics,
QCD MADE SIMPLE Quantum chromodynamics, familiarly called QCD, is the modern theory of the strong interaction. 1 Historically its roots are in nuclear physics and the description of ordinary matter understanding
arxiv:hep-lat/0408024v1 16 Aug 2004
BU-HEPP-04-02 Electric Polarizability of Neutral Hadrons from Lattice QCD Joe Christensen Physics Department, McMurry University, Abilene, TX, 79697 Walter Wilcox Department of Physics, Baylor University,
Theory of electrons and positrons
P AUL A. M. DIRAC Theory of electrons and positrons Nobel Lecture, December 12, 1933 Matter has been found by experimental physicists to be made up of small particles of various kinds, the particles of
The Birth of the Universe Newcomer Academy High School Visualization One
The Birth of the Universe Newcomer Academy High School Visualization One Chapter Topic Key Points of Discussion Notes & Vocabulary 1 Birth of The Big Bang Theory Activity 4A the How and when did the universe
Free Electron Fermi Gas (Kittel Ch. 6)
Free Electron Fermi Gas (Kittel Ch. 6) Role of Electrons in Solids Electrons are responsible for binding of crystals -- they are the glue that hold the nuclei together Types of binding (see next slide)
Nuclear Physics. Nuclear Physics comprises the study of:
Nuclear Physics Nuclear Physics comprises the study of: The general properties of nuclei The particles contained in the nucleus The interaction between these particles Radioactivity and nuclear reactions
PHY4604 Introduction to Quantum Mechanics Fall 2004 Practice Test 3 November 22, 2004
PHY464 Introduction to Quantum Mechanics Fall 4 Practice Test 3 November, 4 These problems are similar but not identical to the actual test. One or two parts will actually show up.. Short answer. (a) Recall
Statistical Physics, Part 2 by E. M. Lifshitz and L. P. Pitaevskii (volume 9 of Landau and Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics).
Fermi liquids The electric properties of most metals can be well understood from treating the electrons as non-interacting. This free electron model describes the electrons in the outermost shell of the
thermal history of the universe and big bang nucleosynthesis
thermal history of the universe and big bang nucleosynthesis Kosmologie für Nichtphysiker Markus Pössel (vertreten durch Björn Malte Schäfer) Fakultät für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Heidelberg
EXIT TIME PROBLEMS AND ESCAPE FROM A POTENTIAL WELL
EXIT TIME PROBLEMS AND ESCAPE FROM A POTENTIAL WELL Exit Time problems and Escape from a Potential Well Escape From a Potential Well There are many systems in physics, chemistry and biology that exist
Rate Equations and Detailed Balance
Rate Equations and Detailed Balance Initial question: Last time we mentioned astrophysical masers. Why can they exist spontaneously? Could there be astrophysical lasers, i.e., ones that emit in the optical?
Electric Dipole moments as probes of physics beyond the Standard Model
Electric Dipole moments as probes of physics beyond the Standard Model K. V. P. Latha Non-Accelerator Particle Physics Group Indian Institute of Astrophysics Plan of the Talk Parity (P) and Time-reversal
REALIZING EINSTEIN S DREAM Exploring Our Mysterious Universe
REALIZING EINSTEIN S DREAM Exploring Our Mysterious Universe The End of Physics Albert A. Michelson, at the dedication of Ryerson Physics Lab, U. of Chicago, 1894 The Miracle Year - 1905 Relativity Quantum
Orbits of the Lennard-Jones Potential
Orbits of the Lennard-Jones Potential Prashanth S. Venkataram July 28, 2012 1 Introduction The Lennard-Jones potential describes weak interactions between neutral atoms and molecules. Unlike the potentials
STRING THEORY: Past, Present, and Future
STRING THEORY: Past, Present, and Future John H. Schwarz Simons Center March 25, 2014 1 OUTLINE I) Early History and Basic Concepts II) String Theory for Unification III) Superstring Revolutions IV) Remaining
arxiv:1008.4792v2 [hep-ph] 20 Jun 2013
A Note on the IR Finiteness of Fermion Loop Diagrams Ambresh Shivaji Harish-Chandra Research Initute, Chhatnag Road, Junsi, Allahabad-09, India arxiv:008.479v hep-ph] 0 Jun 03 Abract We show that the mo
PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT AND DUAL NATURE OF MATTER AND RADIATIONS
PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT AND DUAL NATURE OF MATTER AND RADIATIONS 1. Photons 2. Photoelectric Effect 3. Experimental Set-up to study Photoelectric Effect 4. Effect of Intensity, Frequency, Potential on P.E.
The Quantum Harmonic Oscillator Stephen Webb
The Quantum Harmonic Oscillator Stephen Webb The Importance of the Harmonic Oscillator The quantum harmonic oscillator holds a unique importance in quantum mechanics, as it is both one of the few problems
Contents. Goldstone Bosons in 3He-A Soft Modes Dynamics and Lie Algebra of Group G:
... Vlll Contents 3. Textures and Supercurrents in Superfluid Phases of 3He 3.1. Textures, Gradient Energy and Rigidity 3.2. Why Superfuids are Superfluid 3.3. Superfluidity and Response to a Transverse
Energy Transport. Focus on heat transfer. Heat Transfer Mechanisms: Conduction Radiation Convection (mass movement of fluids)
Energy Transport Focus on heat transfer Heat Transfer Mechanisms: Conduction Radiation Convection (mass movement of fluids) Conduction Conduction heat transfer occurs only when there is physical contact
Physics 176 Topics to Review For the Final Exam
Physics 176 Topics to Review For the Final Exam Professor Henry Greenside May, 011 Thermodynamic Concepts and Facts 1. Practical criteria for identifying when a macroscopic system is in thermodynamic equilibrium:
Chapter 22: Electric Flux and Gauss s Law
22.1 ntroduction We have seen in chapter 21 that determining the electric field of a continuous charge distribution can become very complicated for some charge distributions. t would be desirable if we
Precession of spin and Precession of a top
6. Classical Precession of the Angular Momentum Vector A classical bar magnet (Figure 11) may lie motionless at a certain orientation in a magnetic field. However, if the bar magnet possesses angular momentum,
Specific Intensity. I ν =
Specific Intensity Initial question: A number of active galactic nuclei display jets, that is, long, nearly linear, structures that can extend for hundreds of kiloparsecs. Many have two oppositely-directed
Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics. Note 01 Page 1 of 8. Natural Units
Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics. Note 01 Page 1 of 8 Natural Units There are 4 primary SI units: three kinematical (meter, second, kilogram) and one electrical (Ampere 1 ) It is common in the
Midterm Solutions. mvr = ω f (I wheel + I bullet ) = ω f 2 MR2 + mr 2 ) ω f = v R. 1 + M 2m
Midterm Solutions I) A bullet of mass m moving at horizontal velocity v strikes and sticks to the rim of a wheel a solid disc) of mass M, radius R, anchored at its center but free to rotate i) Which of
The Sun and Solar Energy
I The Sun and Solar Energy One of the most important forces behind global change on Earth is over 90 million miles distant from the planet. The Sun is the ultimate, original source of the energy that drives
World of Particles Big Bang Thomas Gajdosik. Big Bang (model)
Big Bang (model) What can be seen / measured? basically only light (and a few particles: e ±, p, p, ν x ) in different wave lengths: microwave to γ-rays in different intensities (measured in magnitudes)
arxiv:1111.4354v2 [physics.acc-ph] 27 Oct 2014
Theory of Electromagnetic Fields Andrzej Wolski University of Liverpool, and the Cockcroft Institute, UK arxiv:1111.4354v2 [physics.acc-ph] 27 Oct 2014 Abstract We discuss the theory of electromagnetic
Broadband microwave conductance across the T=0 superconductor-resistive magnetic field tuned transition in InO x!
Broadband microwave conductance across the T=0 superconductor-resistive magnetic field tuned transition in InO x! N. Peter Armitage! Dept. of Physics and Astronomy! The Johns Hopkins University! Lidong
Solutions to Problems in Goldstein, Classical Mechanics, Second Edition. Chapter 7
Solutions to Problems in Goldstein, Classical Mechanics, Second Edition Homer Reid April 21, 2002 Chapter 7 Problem 7.2 Obtain the Lorentz transformation in which the velocity is at an infinitesimal angle
arxiv:1507.00499v1 [nucl-th] 2 Jul 2015
Flow anisotropies due to momentum deposition from hard partons Boris Tomášik a,b, Martin Schulc b,c arxiv:1507.00499v1 [nucl-th] 2 Jul 2015 a Univerzita Mateja Bela, Banská Bystrica, Slovakia b FNSPE,
Differential Relations for Fluid Flow. Acceleration field of a fluid. The differential equation of mass conservation
Differential Relations for Fluid Flow In this approach, we apply our four basic conservation laws to an infinitesimally small control volume. The differential approach provides point by point details of
The Role of Electric Polarization in Nonlinear optics
The Role of Electric Polarization in Nonlinear optics Sumith Doluweera Department of Physics University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, Ohio 45221 Abstract Nonlinear optics became a very active field of research
arxiv:hep-ph/0410120v2 2 Nov 2004
Photon deflection by a Coulomb field in noncommutative QED C. A. de S. Pires Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Caixa Postal 5008, 58059-970, João Pessoa - PB, Brazil. Abstract arxiv:hep-ph/0410120v2
Blackbody radiation derivation of Planck s radiation low
Blackbody radiation derivation of Planck s radiation low 1 Classical theories of Lorentz and Debye: Lorentz (oscillator model): Electrons and ions of matter were treated as a simple harmonic oscillators
F en = mω 0 2 x. We should regard this as a model of the response of an atom, rather than a classical model of the atom itself.
The Electron Oscillator/Lorentz Atom Consider a simple model of a classical atom, in which the electron is harmonically bound to the nucleus n x e F en = mω 0 2 x origin resonance frequency Note: We should
Selected Topics in Elementary Particle Physics ( Haupt-Seminar )
Selected Topics in Elementary Particle Physics ( Haupt-Seminar ) Paola Avella, Veronika Chobanova, Luigi Li Gioi, Christian Kiesling, Hans-Günther Moser, Martin Ritter, Pit Vanhoefer Time: Do, 12 ct -14
Quark Model. Quark Model
Quark odel Outline Hadrons Isosin Strangeness Quark odel Flavours u d s esons Pseudoscalar and vector mesons Baryons Deculet octet Hadron asses Sin-sin couling Heavy Quarks Charm bottom Heavy quark esons
Calorimetry in particle physics experiments
Calorimetry in particle physics experiments Unit n. 8 Calibration techniques Roberta Arcidiacono Lecture overview Introduction Hardware Calibration Test Beam Calibration In-situ Calibration (EM calorimeters)
1. Fluids Mechanics and Fluid Properties. 1.1 Objectives of this section. 1.2 Fluids
1. Fluids Mechanics and Fluid Properties What is fluid mechanics? As its name suggests it is the branch of applied mechanics concerned with the statics and dynamics of fluids - both liquids and gases.
Boardworks AS Physics
Boardworks AS Physics Vectors 24 slides 11 Flash activities Prefixes, scalars and vectors Guide to the SI unit prefixes of orders of magnitude Matching powers of ten to their SI unit prefixes Guide to
8 Radiative Cooling and Heating
8 Radiative Cooling and Heating Reading: Katz et al. 1996, ApJ Supp, 105, 19, section 3 Thoul & Weinberg, 1995, ApJ, 442, 480 Optional reading: Thoul & Weinberg, 1996, ApJ, 465, 608 Weinberg et al., 1997,
Electromagnetism - Lecture 2. Electric Fields
Electromagnetism - Lecture 2 Electric Fields Review of Vector Calculus Differential form of Gauss s Law Poisson s and Laplace s Equations Solutions of Poisson s Equation Methods of Calculating Electric
