[NT/RBRC Seminar] Isotropization of an expanding plasma with the 2PI effective action

by Sigtryggur Hauksson (IPhT/Saclay)

Friday 15 Sept 2023, 11:00 → 13:00 US/Eastern

Large seminar room (https://bnl.zoomgov.com/j/1614715193?pwd=WkwxODVWdzZzb29zQnZRVGp3VTBDQT09)

A central question in heavy-ion collisions is how the initial far-from-equilibrium medium evolves and thermalizes. In this work we use the two-particle irreducible (2PI) effective action, which is non-perturbative and derived directly from the underlying quantum field theory, for the first time to answer this question. We focus on scalar field theory with quartic coupling. We analyze isotropization in the stress-energy tensor and in quasiparticle momentum distributions in a medium with longitudinal expansion. Furthermore, we study how a background field decays into quasiparticles through parametric resonance.