Self-consistent T-matrix approach to strongly-coupled quark-gluon plasma

by Zhanduo Tang (Texas A&M Univ)

Tuesday 19 Nov 2024, 11:00 → 13:00 US/Eastern

Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) describes the strong interactions among quarks and gluons. Investigating the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) advances our understanding of QCD through experimental studies at facilities like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), and through theoretical frameworks in high-energy and nuclear physics. The theoretical method utilized in this work is a previously constructed thermodynamic T-matrix approach—a quantum many-body theory that describes parton interactions in strongly-coupled QGP. Incorporating non-perturbative potential inputs constrained by lattice-QCD data, this approach provides a comprehensive analysis of QCD interactions. We extend the T-matrix to include the effects of spin-dependent interactions between partons. The resulting mass splittings for vacuum heavy-quarkonium, comparable to experimental data, are achieved after introducing a Lorentz-vector component in the confining potential. Additionally, besides the QGP equation of state, we also constrain the in-medium input potential through novel constraints from lattice-QCD, namely static Wilson line correlators and bottomonium correlators with extended operators. These novel constraints, from both vacuum and finite temperature, significantly refine predictions of the spectral and transport properties of QGP, for instance, the heavy-quark spatial diffusion coefficients are in good agreement with 2+1-flavor lattice-QCD results. This is crucial for future phenomenological studies in heavy-ion collisions.