The Hot QCD White Paper: Exploring the Phases of QCD at RHIC and the LHC

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1502.02730
• Publication Date: 2015-01-01
• Authors: Y. Akiba; A. D. Frawley; H. Caines; W. Li; Krishna Rajagopal; Mateusz Andrzej P...; Nu Xu; D. P. Morrison; J. Jia; Ralf Rapp; B. Jacak; Joern Putschke; G. Roland; Ulrich Heinz; P. Sørensen; A. Angerami; Abhijit Majumder; T. Lappi; W. A. Zajc; Urs Wiedemann
• Keywords: QCD matter

The past decade has seen huge advances in experimental measurements made heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and more recently Large Hadron (LHC). These new data, combination with theoretical from calculations a variety of frameworks, have led to broad deep knowledge properties thermal QCD matter. Increasingly quantitative descriptions quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created these established that QGP is strongly coupled liquid lowest value specific viscosity ever measured. However, much remains be learned about precise nature initial state which this forms, how its vary across phase diagram how, microscopic level, collective emerge interactions among individual quarks gluons must visible if probed sufficiently high resolution. This white paper, prepared by Hot Writing Group as part U.S. Long Range Plan for Nuclear Physics, reviews recent progress field hot outlines scientific opportunities next resolving outstanding issues field.