Recent results from parton cascade and microscopic transport

TL;DR

This paper discusses the use of parton cascade models to study the evolution of the Quark-Gluon Plasma in heavy ion collisions, focusing on elliptic flow and thermalization, and highlights the importance of dynamical evolution and viscous effects.

Contribution

It presents new calculations on elliptic flow and thermalization using advanced parton cascade models, emphasizing the role of dynamical evolution and viscous corrections.

Findings

Elliptic flow scaling is affected by dynamical evolution.

A longitudinal to transverse pressure ratio of about 0.8 is observed.

Viscous corrections are significant in the hydrodynamical description.

Abstract

Parton cascade is a microscopic transport approach for the study of the space-time evolution of the Quark-Gluon Plasma produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions and its experimental manifestations. In the following, parton cascade calculations on elliptic flow and thermalization will be discussed. Dynamical evolution is shown to be important for the production of elliptic flow including the scaling and the breaking of the scaling of elliptic flow. The degree of thermalization is estimated using both an elastic parton cascade and a radiative transport model. A longitudinal to transverse pressure ratio, $P_L/P_T\approx 0.8$, is shown to be expected in the central cell in central collisions. This provides information on viscous corrections to the ideal hydrodynamical approach.