Hadrons and Quark–Gluon Plasma (Cambridge Monographs on Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics and Cosmology)
Cambridge University Press, 5/30/2002
EAN 9780521385367, ISBN10: 0521385369
Hardcover, 414 pages, 24.4 x 17 x 2.4 cm
Language: English
Before matter as we know it emerged, the universe was filled with the primordial state of hadronic matter called quark–gluon plasma. This hot soup of quarks and gluons is effectively an inescapable consequence of our current knowledge about the fundamental hadronic interactions: quantum chromodynamics. This book covers the ongoing search to verify the prediction experimentally and discusses the physical properties of this novel form of matter. It begins with an overview of the subject, followed by discussion of experimental methods and results. The second half of the book covers hadronic matter in confined and deconfined form, and strangeness as a signature of the quark–gluon phase. Covering the basics as well as more advanced material, it is ideal as an introduction for graduate students, as well as providing a valuable reference for researchers already working in this and related fields.
Part I. A New Phase of Matter?
1. Micro-bang
big bang in the laboratory
2. Hadrons
3. Vacuum as a physical medium
4. Statistical properties of hadronic matter
Part II. Analysis Tools and Experiments
5. Nuclei in collision
6. Understanding collision dynamics
7. Entropy and its relevance in heavy ion collisions
Part III. Particle Production
8. Particle spectra
9. Highlights of hadron production
Part IV. Hot Hadronic Matter
10. Relativistic gas
11. First look at hadronic gas
12. Hagedorn gas
Part V. QCD, Hadronic Structure and High Temperature
13. Hadronic structure and quantum chromodynamics
14. Perturbative QCD
15. Lattice quantum chromodynamics
16. Perturbative quark-gluon plasma
Part VI. Strangeness
17. Thermal flavor production in deconfined phase
18. Strangeness background
19. Hadron freeze-out analysis.
'Letessier and Rafelski's book occupied a sparsely-populated niche. it contains a valuable toolkit for understanding the physics of heavy-ion collisions, and the properties of matter at the crucial temperature of around 100 MeV, where quarks are thought to escape their cages ... an excellent book.' Mark Hindmarsh, The Observatory