Quark Dispersion Relation and Dilepton Production in the Quark-Gluon Plasma

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the quark dispersion relation in the quark-gluon plasma features two collective branches, leading to distinctive structures in dilepton production rates that could signal plasma formation.

Contribution

It reveals the general form of the quark dispersion relation in the plasma and links it to observable dilepton production signatures.

Findings

Two collective quark branches with a minimum at non-zero momentum

Presence of van Hove singularities and gaps in dilepton spectra

Potential experimental signature for quark-gluon plasma detection

Abstract

Under very general assumptions we show that the quark dispersion relation in the quark-gluon plasma is given by two collective branches, of which one has a minimum at a non-vanishing momentum. This general feature of the quark dispersion relation leads to structures (van Hove singularities, gaps) in the low mass dilepton production rate, which might provide a unique signature for the quark-gluon plasma formation in relativistic heavy ion collisions.