Quark-Gluon Plasma, Heavy Ion Collisions and Hadrons

This third book on Quark-Gluon plasma and heavy ion collisions follows the previous ones, published in 1988 and 2005, that described theoretical proposals for a large program, and then the QGP discovery at RHIC.

The present one describes the rather mature field, with extensive program at RHIC and LHC colliders and corresponding theory. QGP turns out to be a strongly coupled medium made up of quarks and gluons, existing in exploding fireballs. It is the hottest form of matter created in a laboratory. Other subjects discussed in the book are QCD vacuum structure, including topological solitons and nonperturbative phenomena. It also includes some recent progress in theory of hadrons, bridging hadronic spectroscopy with partonic observables.

Contents:

• Preface

• Quark-Gluon Plasma:

  • Introduction
  • Introduction to Quantum Chromodynamics
  • Perturbative Theory of Cold/Hot QGP
  • Hadronic Matter
  • Qfts at Finite TemperaturesQfts at Finite Temperatures
  • Event-By-Event Fluctuations and Searches for the QCD Critical Point

• Heavy Ion Collisions:

  • Heavy Ion Collisions
  • Chemical Freeze-Out and the Composition of Secondaries
  • Kinetic Freeze-Out
  • Relativistic Hydrodynamics and High-Energy Collisions
  • Elliptic and Directed Flows
  • Higher Flow Harmonics and Sounds
  • Sounds in the Big Bang
  • Femtoscopy
  • Vorticity of the Fireball and Hadronic Polarizations
  • Matter at High Baryon Density
  • Models of the Initial Stage
  • The Penetrating Probes
  • Heavy Quarks and 'JETS' Interacting With Matter
  • The Smallest Drops of the SQGP
  • Holographic Models of Strongly Coupled QGP
  • What have we Learned About Hot QCD Matter?

• Nonperturbative QCD and Hadrons:

  • Instantons, Sphalerons and Other Chiral Effects
  • Confinement, Magnetic Monopoles and the Electric-Magnetic Duality
  • Hadronic Spectroscopy
  • Hadrons and Their High-Energy Collisions
  • Semiclassical Theory of Deconfinement and Chiral Phase Transitions
  • From Hadronic Spectroscopy on the Light Front to Partonic Observables
  • Holographic Models of QCD
  • Summary and Discussion

• Bibliography

• Index

Readership: Researchers in nuclear and particle physics, including graduate students and postdocs.
Key Features:

• A comprehensive monograph introducing theory of strong interactions, Quantum Chromodynamics, in its most fascinating aspects. It can be useful both for participants in the field, as well as young researches who would like to get exposed to ideas, discoveries and corresponding theoretical toolbox