Quark-Gluon Plasma and Nucleons a la Laughlin

TL;DR

This paper proposes a topological model of quark-gluon plasma and nucleons inspired by the fractional quantum Hall effect, using monopoles and Clifford algebra to describe their states and interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel topological framework for quark-gluon systems based on monopoles and Clifford algebra, linking monopole winding numbers to physical properties.

Findings

States determined by monopole winding number m and quark number N

Radius squared proportional to mN in the model

Predicts observable proportionality in heavy ion collisions

Abstract

Inspired by Laughlin's theory of the fractional quantum Hall effect, we explore the topological nature of the quark-gluon plasma and the nucleons in the context of the Clifford algebra. In our model, each quark is transformed into a composite particle via the simultaneous attachment of a spin monopole and an isospin monopole. This is induced by a novel kind of meson endowed with both spin and isospin degrees of freedom. The interactions in the strongly coupled quark-gluon system are governed by the topological winding number of the monopoles, which is an odd integer to ensure that the overall wave function is antisymmetric. The states of the quark-gluon plasma and the nucleons are thus uniquely determined by the combination of the monopole winding number m and the total quark number N. The radius squared of the quark-gluon plasma droplet is expected to be proportional to mN. We anticipate the observation of such proportionality in the heavy ion collision experiments.