SUBJECT

Title

Relativistic collisions of atomic nuclei

Type of instruction

lecture

Level

master

Part of degree program
Credits

3

Recommended in

Semester 3

Typically offered in

Autumn semester

Course description

Models of relativistic ion collisions. Most important experimental observables. The experimental heavy-ion programs of the CERN SPS and LHC, as well as the BNL AGS and RHIC accelerator facilities. The phases of the hot and dense, strongly interacting matter. The Glauber-Gribov model, and the determination of centrality in heavy-ion collisions. The phenomenology of heavy-ion collisions: Monte Carlo models, hydrodynamical models, fireball model, coalescence model, and applications of perturbative QCD. Jets, and jet quenching phenomena. The theoretical and experimental signatures of the quark-gluon plasma. Latest results from the experiments at the LHC and RHIC accelerators.

Readings
  • L.P. Csernai: Introduction to relativistic heavy ion physics. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, 1994
  • C.Y. Wong: Introduction to high energy heavy ion collisions, World Scientific Publishing, 1990