Development of relativistic shock waves in viscous gluon matter

To investigate the formation and the propagation of relativistic shock waves in viscous gluon matter we solve the relativistic Riemann problem using a microscopic parton cascade. We demonstrate the transition from ideal to viscous shock waves by varying the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $\eta/s$. We show that an $\eta/s$ ratio larger than 0.2 prevents the development of well-defined shock waves on time scales typical for ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. These findings are confirmed by viscous hydrodynamic calculations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennesse

Gluon self-energy in a two-flavor color superconductor

The energy and momentum dependence of the gluon self-energy is investigated in a color superconductor with two flavors of massless quarks. The presence of a color-superconducting quark-quark condensate modifies the gluon self-energy for energies which are of the order of the gap parameter. For gluon energies much larger than the gap, the self-energy assumes the form given by the standard hard-dense loop approximation. It is shown that this modification of the gluon self-energy does not affect the magnitude of the gap to leading and subleading order in the weak-coupling limit.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX, aps and epsfig style files require

Analysis of one- and two-particle spectra at RHIC based on a hydrodynamical model

We calculate the one-particle hadronic spectra and correlation functions of pions based on a hydrodynamical model. Parameters in the model are so chosen that the one-particle spectra reproduce experimental results of $\sqrt{s}=130A$GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC. Based on the numerical solution, we discuss the space-time evolution of the fluid. Two-pion correlation functions are also discussed. Our numerical solution suggests the formation of the quark-gluon plasma with large volume and low net baryon density.Comment: LaTeX, 4pages, 4 figures. To appear in the proceedings of Fourth International Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark-Gluon Plasma (ICPAQGP-2001), Nov 26-30, 2001, Jaipur, Indi

Relativistic shock waves in viscous gluon matter

We solve the relativistic Riemann problem in viscous gluon matter employing a microscopic parton cascade. We demonstrate the transition from ideal to viscous shock waves by varying the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $\eta/s$ from zero to infinity. We show that an $\eta/s$ ratio larger than 0.2 prevents the development of well-defined shock waves on timescales typical for ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Comparisons with viscous hydrodynamic calculations confirm our findings.Comment: Version as published in PRL 103, 032301 (2009). 4 pages, 4 figure

Influence of a temperature-dependent shear viscosity on the azimuthal asymmetries of transverse momentum spectra in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the influence of a temperature-dependent shear viscosity over entropy density ratio $\eta/s$, different shear relaxation times $\tau_\pi$, as well as different initial conditions on the transverse momentum spectra of charged hadrons and identified particles. We investigate the azimuthal flow asymmetries as a function of both collision energy and centrality. The elliptic flow coefficient turns out to be dominated by the hadronic viscosity at RHIC energies. Only at higher collision energies the impact of the viscosity in the QGP phase is visible in the flow asymmetries. Nevertheless, the shear viscosity near the QCD transition region has the largest impact on the collective flow of the system. We also find that the centrality dependence of the elliptic flow is sensitive to the temperature dependence of $\eta/s$.Comment: 13 pages, 20 figure

Asymptotic deconfinement in high-density QCD

We discuss QCD with two light flavors at large baryon chemical potential mu. Color superconductivity leads to partial breaking of the color SU(3) group. We show that the infrared physics is governed by the gluodynamics of the remaining SU(2) group with an exponentially soft confinement scale Lambda_QCD' Delta*exp[-a*mu/(g*Delta)], where Delta<<mu is the superconducting gap, g is the strong coupling, and a=0.81... We estimate that at moderate baryon densities Lambda_QCD' is O(10 MeV) or smaller. The confinement radius increases exponentially with density, leading to "asymptotic deconfinement." The velocity of the SU(2) gluons is small due to the large dielectric constant of the medium.Comment: 4 pages; restructured, published versio

Gapless phases of color-superconducting matter

We discuss gapless color superconductivity for neutral quark matter in beta equilibrium at zero as well as at nonzero temperature. Basic properties of gapless superconductors are reviewed. The current progress and the remaining problems in the understanding of the phase diagram of strange quark matter are discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Plenary talk at Strangeness in Quark Matter 2004 (SQM2004), Cape Town, South Africa, 15-20 September 2004. Minor correction

The BCS model and the off shell Bethe ansatz for vertex models

We study the connection between the BCS pairing model and the inhomogeneous vertex model. The two spectral problems coincide in the quasi-classical limit of the off-shell Bethe Ansatz of the disordered six vertex model. The latter problem is transformed into an auxiliary spectral problem which corresponds to the diagonalization of the integrals of motion of the BCS model. A generating functional whose quasi classical expansion leads to the constants of motion of the BCS model and in particular the Hamiltonian, is identified.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure. To be published in J. Phys.