28.04.11 17:15
High Temperature QCD from Lattice Gauge Theory: Recent Results
Carleton DeTar
At extremely high temperatures and densities, strongly interacting
matter undergoes a dramatic transition to a quark gluon plasma state.
Studying the properties of this state of matter is a major goal of
experiments at heavy-ion colliders. Numerical simulation of lattice
gauge theory provides the only method for obtaining ab initio
nonperturbative QCD predictions for the behavior of matter at high
temperatures and low densities. In the past few years we have made
considerable progress in removing the most important lattice cutoff
effects, and we are starting to make confident predictions for the
transition temperature, equation of state, and other quantities of
importance for analyzing measurements of heavy ion collisions.
This talk is meant for nonspecialists with an interest in the properties
of strongly interacting matter at extreme temperatures. I will
introduce briefly the simulation methods, and then discuss contemporary
issues, including recent results from the HotQCD collaboration.
(Seminarraum I)