Interaction of gravitational waves with non-abelian gauge fields and quark-gluon plasma

Gravitational waves (GWs), often referred to as ripples in spacetime, were first detected in 2015, revolutionizing our understanding of the universe. On the other hand, the quark-gluon plasma (QGP)—a state of matter believed to have existed microseconds after the Big Bang—provides insights into the fundamental forces of nature. My research bridges these two fascinating areas, exploring how gravitational waves interact with this exotic matter governed by non-abelian (Yang-Mills (YM)) gauge fields. We aim to investigate this in two ways: (i) Study the fundamental interactions of GW with YM fields, and (ii) Explore the thermodynamic aspects of QGP. QGP is a liquid that behaves like an almost perfect fluid at temperatures observed in particle accelerators (around Tc, Tc ∼ trillion K) and like a gas of non-interacting particles at T ≫ Tc. We explore the QGP under these approximations using two models: waves and condensates. We then investigate the effect of GWs on these configurations. We find that the GW changes the frequency and direction of YM waves. In the case of condensates, GW induces the decay of condensate into waves. When we study the dynamics of fermions in the presence of condensate and GWs, we found that GWs induce flavour transitions which are relevant in explaining the strangeness enhancement of QGP as observed in colliders. We then discuss thermodynamic aspects, starting with a study of the effect of GWs on YM phase transition using classical nucleation theory and showing that GW increases nucleation rate, resulting in lesser transition time. Finally, we study the thermodynamic properties of QGP using finite temperature Quantum Field Theory. We show that the GWs play an important role in stabilizing the QGP condensates at finite temperatures, as without the GW, the QGP has negative energy and pressure.

Authors

• Gosala, Narasimha Reddy
• University of Lethbridge. Faculty of Arts and Science

• gravitational waves
• nonabelian gauge fields
• quark-gluon plasma
• classical and quantum field theory
• finite temperature field theory
• condensates

Identifier

hdl:10133/6970

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opus.uleth.ca:10133/6970