The phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation of dilute gases in traps is reviewed from a theoretical perspective. Mean-field theory provides a framework to understand the main features of the condensation and the role of interactions between particles. Various properties of these systems are discussed, including the density profiles and the energy of the ground-state configurations, the collective oscillations and the dynamics of the expansion, the condensate fraction and the thermodynamic functions. The thermodynamic limit exhibits a scaling behavior in the relevant length and energy scales. Despite the dilute nature of the gases, interactions profoundly modify the static as well as the dynamic properties of the system; the predictions of mean-field theory are in excellent agreement with available experimental results. Effects of superfluidity including the existence of quantized vortices and the reduction of the moment of inertia are discussed, as well as the consequences of coherence such as the Josephson effect and interference phenomena. The review also assesses the accuracy and limitations of the mean-field approach.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/cond-mat/9806038.pdf

Theory of Bose-Einstein condensation in trapped gases

https://www.arxiv.org/pdf/nucl-ex/0501009

Experimental and theoretical challenges in the search for the quark-gluon plasma: The STAR Collaboration's critical assessment of the evidence from RHIC collisions

The ratio of shear viscosity to volume density of entropy can be used to characterize how close a given fluid is to being perfect. Using string theory methods, we show that this ratio is equal to a universal value of [h-bar]/4pikB for a large class of strongly interacting quantum field theories whose dual description involves black holes in anti–de Sitter space. We provide evidence that this value may serve as a lower bound for a wide class of systems, thus suggesting that black hole horizons are dual to the most ideal fluids.

Viscosity in strongly interacting quantum field theories from black hole physics

http://nuclear.korea.ac.kr/~bhong/class/WhitePaper_PHENIX_RUN1-3.pdf

Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus–nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX Collaboration

Dynamic functional connectivity: Promise, issues, and interpretations

The authors review the theory and phenomenology of instantons in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). After a general overview, they provide a pedagogical introduction to semiclassical methods in quantum mechanics and field theory. The main part of the review summarizes our understanding of the instanton liquid in QCD and the role of instantons in generating the spectrum of light hadrons. The authors also discuss properties of instantons at finite temperature and how instantons can provide a mechanism for the chiral phase transition. They give an overview of the role of instantons in some other models, in particular low-dimensional sigma models, electroweak theory, and supersymmetric QCD.

http://wonka.physics.ncsu.edu/~tmschaef/physics/RevModPhys_Instantons.pdf

Instantons in QCD

Several approaches to QCD with two {ital massless} quarks at finite temperature T and baryon chemical potential {mu} suggest the existence of a tricritical point on the boundary of the phase with spontaneously broken chiral symmetry. In QCD with {ital massive} quarks there is then a critical point at the end of a first order transition line. We discuss possible experimental signatures of this point, which provide information about its location and properties. We propose a combination of event-by-event observables, including suppressed fluctuations in T and {mu} and, simultaneously, enhanced fluctuations in the multiplicity of soft pions. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society }

Signatures of the Tricritical Point in QCD

Quantum chromodynamics and the theory of superdense matter

Radial and elliptic flow in noncentral heavy-ion collisions can constrain the effective equation of state (EOS) of the excited nuclear matter. To this end, a model combining relativistic hydrodynamics and a hadronic transport code [Sorge, Phys. Rev. C 52, 3291 (1995)] is developed. For an EOS with a first-order phase transition, the model reproduces both the radial and elliptic flow data at the SPS. With the EOS fixed from SPS data, we quantify predictions at RHIC where the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) pressure is expected to drive additional radial and elliptic flows. Currently, the strong elliptic flow observed in the first RHIC measurements does not conclusively signal this nascent QGP pressure.

Flow at the SPS and RHIC as a quark-gluon plasma signature.

The event-by-event fluctuations of suitably chosen observables in heavy ion collisions at CERN SPS, BNL RHIC, and CERN LHC can tell us about the thermodynamic properties of the hadronic system at freeze-out. By studying these fluctuations as a function of varying control parameters, it is possible to learn much about the phase diagram of QCD. As a timely example, we stress the methods by which present experiments at the CERN SPS can locate the second-order critical end point of the first-order transition between quark-gluon plasma and hadron matter. Those event-by-event signatures which are characteristic of freeze-out in the vicinity of the critical point will exhibit nonmonotonic dependence on control parameters. We focus on observables constructed from the multiplicity and transverse momenta of charged pions. We first consider how the event-by-event fluctuations of such observables are affected by Bose-Einstein correlations, by resonances which decay after freeze-out, and by fluctuations in the transverse flow velocity. We compare our thermodynamic predictions for such noncritical event-by-event fluctuations with NA49 data, finding broad agreement. We then focus on effects due to thermal contact between the observed pions and a heat bath with a given (possibly singular) specific heat, due to the direct coupling between themore » critical fluctuations of the sigma field and the observed pions. We also discuss the effect of the pions produced in the decay of sigma particles just above threshold after freeze-out on the inclusive pion spectrum and on multiplicity fluctuations. We estimate the size of these nonmonotonic effects, which appear near the critical point, including restrictions imposed by finite size and finite time, and conclude that they should be easily observable. (c) 1999 The American Physical Society.« less

http://www.if.pw.edu.pl/~kperl/EVO/9903292v2

Edward Shuryak

Papers

Instantons in QCD

Signatures of the Tricritical Point in QCD

Quantum chromodynamics and the theory of superdense matter

Flow at the SPS and RHIC as a quark-gluon plasma signature.

Event-by-Event Fluctuations in Heavy Ion Collisions and the QCD Critical Point