Eur. Phys. J. A (2006) 29: 53-57
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2005-10298-4

Quark-Gluon-Plasma Thermalization

Numerical studies of QGP instabilities and implications

Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 rue University, QC H3A 2T8, Montréal, Canada

^* e-mail: guymoore@physics.mcgill.ca

Received: 16 November 2005
Accepted: 2 January 2006
Published online: 6 September 2006

Abstract

Because of the flat initial shape of the QGP in a heavy-ion collision, the momentum distribution becomes anisotropic after a short time. This leads to plasma instabilities, which may help explain how the plasma isotropizes. We explain the physics of instabilities and give the latest results of numerical simulations into their evolution. Non-Abelian interactions cut off the size to which the soft unstable fields grow, and energy in the soft fields subsequently cascades towards more ultraviolet scales. We present first results for the power spectrum of this cascade.