A dynamical quasiparticle approach for the Quark-Gluon-Plasma bulk and transport properties

TL;DR

This paper introduces an extended dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM*) that effectively describes the thermodynamics and transport properties of the quark-gluon plasma, aligning well with lattice QCD results and enabling studies at finite chemical potential.

Contribution

The paper develops and validates the DQPM* model, incorporating complex selfenergies for partons, to accurately describe QCD thermodynamics and transport properties at finite chemical potential.

Findings

Good agreement with lattice QCD for thermodynamic quantities.

Accurate reproduction of quark susceptibility and number density.

Consistent results for viscosities and conductivity at zero chemical potential.

Abstract

The properties of quantum-chromo dynamics (QCD) nowadays are accessable by lattice QCD calculations at vanishing quark chemical potential $\mu_q$=0 but often lack a transparent physical interpretation. In this review we report about results from an extended dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM$^*$) in which the effective parton propagators have a complex selfenergy that depends on the temperature $T$ of the medium as well as on the chemical potential $\mu_q$ and the parton three-momentum ${\boldsymbol p}$ with respect to the medium at rest. It is demonstrated that this approach allows for a good description of QCD thermodynamics with respect to the entropy density, pressure etc. above the critical temperature $T_c \approx$ 158 MeV. Furthermore, the quark susceptibility $\chi_q$ and the quark number density $n_q$ are found to be reproduced simultaneously at zero and finite quark chemical potential. The shear and bulk viscosities $\eta, \zeta$, and the electric conductivity $\sigma_e$ from the DQPM$^*$ also turn out in close agreement with lattice results for $\mu_q$ =0. The DQPM$^*$, furthermore, allows to evaluate the momentum $p$, $T$ and $\mu_q$ dependencies of the partonic degrees of freedom also for larger $\mu_q$ which are mandatory for transport studies of heavy-ion collisions in the regime 5 GeV $< \sqrt{s_{NN}} <$ 10 GeV. We finally calculate the charm quark diffusion coefficient $D_s$ -- evaluated from the differential cross sections of partons in the medium for light and heavy quarks by employing the propagators and couplings from the DQPM -- and compare to the available lattice data. It is argued that the complete set of observables allows for a transparent interpretation of the properties of hot QCD.