In the early stages of the Universe, quarks and gluons were quickly confined
to protons and neutrons which went on to form atoms. With particle
accelerators reaching increasingly higher energy levels the opportunity to
study this fleeting primordial state of matter has finally arrived.
Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) is a state of matter which existed only for the
briefest of times at the very beginning of the Universe with these particles
being quickly clumped together to form the protons and neutrons that make up
the everyday matter that surrounds us. The challenge of understanding this
primordial state of matter falls to physicists operating the world's most
powerful particle accelerators. A new special edition of EPJ ST entitled
'Quark-Gluon Plasma and Heavy-Ion Phenomenology' (https://link.springer.com/journal/11734/volumes-and-issues/230-3), edited by Munshi G. Mustafa, Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata,
India, brings together seven papers that detail our understanding of QGP and
the processes that transformed it into the baryonic matter around us on an
everyday basis.
"Quark-Gluon Plasma is the strongly interacting deconfined matter which
existed only briefly in the early universe, a few microseconds after the Big
Bang," says Mustafa. "The discovery and characterisation of the properties
of QGP remain some of the best orchestrated international efforts in modern
nuclear physics." Mustafa highlights Heavy Ion Phenomenology as providing a
very reliable tool to determine the properties of QGP and in particular, the
dynamics of its evolution and cooling.
Improvements at colliders such as the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)
and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have radically increased the energy
levels that can be attained by heavy nuclei collisions at near-light speeds
bringing them in line with those of the infant Universe. In addition to
this, future experiments at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research
(FAIR) and at the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) will generate
a wealth of data on QGP and the conditions in the early Universe.
"This collection is so timely as it calls for a better theoretical
understanding of particle properties of hot and dense deconfined matter,
which reflect both static and dynamical properties of QGP," explains
Mustafa. "This improved theoretical understanding of Quark-Gluon Plasma and
Heavy Ion Phenomenology is essential for uncovering the properties of the
putative QGP which occupied the entire universe, a few microseconds after
Big Bang."
Mustafa points out that this improved understanding should also open the
doorway to understanding the equation of state of this strongly interacting
matter and prepare the platform to explore the theory of quark-hadron
transition and the possible thermalisation of the QGP. This could in turn
help us understand the steps that led from QGP to the everyday baryonic
matter that surrounds us.
"The quarks and gluons which formed the neutrons and protons were confined
into them, a few microseconds after the Big Bang," concludes Mustafa. "This
is the first time when we have seen them being liberated from their eternal
confinement!"
Reference:
Munshi G. Mustafa. Quark–Gluon plasma and heavy-ion phenomenology. The
European Physical Journal Special Topics, 2021; 230 (3): 603
DOI: 10.1140/epjs/s11734-021-00018-y
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Physics