Unstable Quark-Gluon Plasma at LHC

TL;DR

This paper discusses how weaker coupling in quark-gluon plasma at LHC enhances plasma instabilities, which accelerate isotropization and equilibration, and explores potential direct signals of these instabilities.

Contribution

It introduces the idea that plasma instabilities are more prominent at LHC due to weaker coupling, affecting plasma evolution and observability.

Findings

Instabilities isotropize the plasma more rapidly at LHC.

Weaker coupling at LHC enhances the role of chromomagnetic instabilities.

Potential direct signals of instabilities are identified.

Abstract

Coupling of the quark-gluon plasma from the early stage of heavy-ion collisions is argued to be weaker at LHC than at RHIC. For this reason, the role of instabilities - the pre-equilibrium plasma is unstable with respect to chromomagnetic modes - will be enhanced. The instabilities isotropize the system and speed up the process of equilibration. A possibility to observe direct signals of the instabilities is considered.