Searching for the QCD critical point in the context of far-from-equilibrium hydrodynamics

The search for a critical point in the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics is an ongoing endeavor, with the Beam Energy Scan run II now finished taking data. Much progress has been made in understanding critical phenomena in relation to quantum chromodynamics, especially in the context of equilibrium and near equilibrium behavior. At the same time, there has also been much progress in our understanding of relativistic viscous hydrodynamics. In particular, the advent of \textit{far-from-equilibrium} hydrodynamics has been an active research area of study. It is now well known that the strongly interacting matter created in heavy-ion collisions begins in a far-from-equilibrium initial state. While the unreasonable effectiveness of hydrodynamics in these systems is not completely understood, it is thought that the system may collapse on to an attracting solution on a short time scale. An aspect that has yet to be studied thoroughly is how this transient regime of hydrodynamics may affect our search for the critical point. The goal of this thesis is to provide groundwork for the search for the critical point in this modern context of relativistic viscous hydrodynamics. We achieve this by building a simplistic model in which we can study the effects of far-from-equilibrium initial conditions systematically, while using a state-of-the-art equation of state. We will show that, in light of these far-from-equilibrium effects, it may be quite important to understand the finer details of how the final state relates to the initial state. In the last chapter, we will discuss current ongoing work which is being developed in order to further our investigation in this regard, in a more realistic setting.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2022

Author dc:creator

• Dore, Travis

Contributors dc:contributor

• Noronha-Hostler, Jacquelyn
• Noronha, Jorge
• Sickles, Anne
• Kahn, Yonatan

• High-energy Nuclear Theory
• Heavy-ion Collisions
• Relativistic Hydrodynamics
• Phase Transitions
• Out-of-equilibrium Dynamics

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2022 Travis Dore

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117721

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F117721