Sequential Quarkonium Suppression

We use recent lattice data on the heavy quark potential in order to determine the dissociation temperatures of different quarkonium states in hot strongly interacting matter. Our analysis shows in particular that certain quarkonium states dissociate below the deconfinement point.Comment: Talk presented on the International Workshop on the Physics of the Quark - Gluon Plasma, September 4-7, 2001, Palaisea

Quarkonium Feed-Down and Sequential Suppression

About 40-50 % of the quarkonium ground states J/psi(1S) and Upsilon(1S) produced in hadronic collisions originate from the decay of higher excitations. In a hot medium, these higher states are dissociated at lower temperatures than the more tightly bound ground states, leading to a sequential suppression pattern. Using new finite temperature lattice results, we specify the in-medium potential between heavy quarks and determine the dissociation points of different quarkonium states. On the basis of recent CDF data on bottomonium production, we then obtain first predictions for sequential Upsilon suppression in nuclear collisions.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, 11 figure

Stabilisation of Seven Directions in an Early Universe M -- theory Model

Our model consists of intersecting 22'55' branes in M theory distributed uniformly in the common transverse space. Equations of state follow from U duality symmetries. In this model, three spatial directions expand, and seven directions stabilise to constant sizes. From string theory perspective, the dilaton is hence stabilised. The constant sizes depend on certain imbalance among initial values. One naturally obtains M_{11} \simeq M_s \simeq M_4 and g_s \simeq 1 within a few orders of magnitude. Smaller numbers, for example M_s \simeq 10^{- 16} M_4, are also possible but require fine tuning.Comment: 11 Pagesl. Latex file. Version 2: Minor changes and a reference added. Version 3: Title changed; many textual modifications, mainly to keep within journal's length constraints, and to explain the differences between brane gas models and intersecting brane configurations used here; references added. To appear in Physical Review D (Rapid communications

Deconfinement through Chiral Symmetry Restoration in Two-Flavour QCD

We propose that in QCD with dynamical quarks, colour deconfinement occurs when an external field induced by the chiral condensate strongly aligns the Polyakov loop. This effect sets in at the chiral symmetry restoration temperature T-chi and thus makes deconfinement and chiral symmetry restoration coincide. The predicted singular behaviour of Polyakov loop susceptibilities at T-chi is shown to be supported by finite temperature lattice calculations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Topological String Defect Formation During the Chiral Phase Transition

We extend and generalize the seminal work of Brandenberger, Huang and Zhang on the formation of strings during chiral phase transitions(berger) and discuss the formation of abelian and non-abelian topological strings during such transitions in the early Universe and in the high energy heavy-ion collisions. Chiral symmetry as well as deconfinement are restored in the core of these defects. Formation of a dense network of string defects is likely to play an important role in the dynamics following the chiral phase transition. We speculate that such a network can give rise to non-azimuthal distribution of transverse energy in heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, minor correction

String Breaking and Quarkonium Dissociation at Finite Temperatures

Recent lattice studies of string breaking in QCD with dynamical quarks determine the in-medium temperature dependence of the heavy quark potential. Comparing this to the binding energies of different quarkonium states, we check if these can decay into open charm/beauty in a confined hadronic medium. Our studies indicate in particular that the chi_c and the psi dissociate into open charm below the deconfinement point.Comment: 8 pages LaTeX, 4 figure

Resonant Production of Topological Defects

We describe a novel phenomenon in which vortices are produced due to resonant oscillations of a scalar field which is driven by a periodically varying temperature T, with T remaining much below the critical temperature $T_c$. Also, in a rapid heating of a localized region to a temperature {\it below} $T_c$, far separated vortex and antivortex can form. We compare our results with recent models of defect production during reheating after inflation. We also discuss possible experimental tests of our predictions of topological defect production {\it without} ever going through a phase transition.Comment: Revtex, 13 pages including 5 postscript figure

Confinement-Deconfinement transition in SU(2)+SU(2)+Higgs Theory

We study the confinement-deconfinement transition in $SU(2)$ gauge theory in the presence of massless bosons using lattice Monte Carlo simulations. The nature of this transition depends on the temporal extent ($N_\tau$) of the Euclidean lattice. We find that the transition is a cross-over for $N_\tau=2,4$ and second order with $3D$ Ising universality class for $N_\tau=8$. Our results show that the second order transition is accompanied by realization of the $Z_2$ symmetry.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures (Accepted in PRD