Search

The Nuclotron-base Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) is under construction at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR), with commissioning of the facility expected in late 2022. The Multi-Purpose Detector (MPD) has been designed to operate at NICA and its components are currently in production. The detector is expected to be ready for data taking with the first beams from NICA. This document provides an overview of the landscape of the investigation of the QCD phase diagram in the region of maximum baryonic density, where NICA and MPD will be able to provide significant and unique input. It also provides a detailed description of the MPD set-up, including its various subsystems as well as its support and computing infrastructures. Selected performance studies for particular physics measurements at MPD are presented and discussed in the context of existing data and theoretical expectations., Comment: 53 pages, 68 figures, submitted as a Review article to EPJA

We present the hybrid hadron string dynamic (HydHSD) model connecting the parton-hadron-string dynamic model (PHSD) and a hydrodynamic model taking into account shear viscosity within the Israel-Stewart approach. The performance of the code is tested on the pion and proton rapidity and transverse mass distributions calculated for Au+Au and Pb+Pb collision at AGS--SPS energies. The influence of the switch time from transport to hydro models, the viscous parameter, and freeze-out time are discussed. Since the applicability of the Israel-Stewart hydrodynamics assumes the perturbative character of the viscous stress tensor, $\pi^{\mu\nu}$, which should not exceed the ideal energy-momentum tensor, $T_{\rm id}^{\mu\nu}$, hydrodynamical codes usually rescale the shear stress tensor if the inequality $\|\pi^{\mu\nu}\|\ll \|T_{\rm id}^{\mu\nu}\|$ is not fulfilled in some sense. We show that the form of the corresponding condition plays an important role in the sensitivity of hydrodynamic calculations to the viscous parameter -- a ratio of the shear viscosity to the entropy density, $\eta/s$. It is shown that the constraints used in the vHLLE and MUSIC models give the same results for the observables. With these constraints, the rapidity distributions and transverse momentum spectra are most sensitive to a change of the $\eta/s$ ratio. As an alternative, a strict condition is used. We performed global fits the rapidity and transverse mass distribution of pion and protons. It was also found that $\eta/s$ as a function of the collision energy monotonically increases from $E_{\rm lab}=6A$GeV up to $E_{\rm lab}=40A$GeV and saturates for higher SPS energies. We observe that it is difficult to reproduce simultaneously pion and proton rapidity distribution within our model with the present choice of the equation of state without a phase transition., Comment: This paper is the essentially revised version of our paper arXiv:1810.10303

A sharp peak in the $K^+/\pi^+$ ratio in relativistic heavy-ion collision is discussed in the framework of the SU(3) Polyakov-loop extended NJL model with vector interaction. In the model, the $K^+/\pi^+$ ratio was calculated along the chiral phase transition line for different values of the vector coupling $g_V$. We showed that the value of the vector coupling had no significant effect on the $K^+/\pi^+$ behaviour., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figs

We review studies of vortical motion and the resulting global polarization of $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ hyperons in heavy-ion collisions, in particular, within 3FD model. 3FD predictions for the global midrapidity polarization in the FAIR-NICA energy range are presented. The 3FD simulations indicate that energy dependence of the observed global polarization of hyperons in the midrapidity region is a consequence of the decrease of the vorticity in the central region with the collision energy rise because of pushing out the vorticity field into the fragmentation regions. At high collision energies this pushing-out results in a peculiar vortical structure consisting of two vortex rings: one ring in the target fragmentation region and another one in the projectile fragmentation region with matter rotation being opposite in these two rings., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, Contribution to proceedings of International Workshop "Infinite and Finite Nuclear Matter" (INFINUM), March 20-22, 2019, JINR BLTP, Dubna

Global polarization of $\Lambda$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ hyperons in Au+Au collisions at collision energies $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 4-40 GeV in the midrapidity region and total polarization, i.e. averaged over all rapidities, are studied within the scope of the thermodynamical approach. The relevant vorticity is simulated within the model of the three-fluid dynamics (3FD). It is found that the performed rough estimate of the global midrapidity polarization quite satisfactorily reproduces the experimental STAR data on the polarization, especially its collision-energy dependence. The total polarization increases with the collision energy rise, which is in contrast to the decrease of the midrapidity polarization. This suggests that at high collision energies the polarization reaches high values in fragmentation regions., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, minor editing of the text, Fig. 4 changed, version to be published in Phys.Rev.C

We extend our hybrid model HydHSD by taking into account shear viscosity within the Israel-Stewart hydrodynamics. The influence of different forms of $\pi^{\mu\nu}$ constraints on observables is analyzed. We show that the form of the corresponding condition plays an important role for the sensitivity of viscous hydrodynamics to the ratio of shear viscosity to the entropy density, $\eta/s$. It is shown that the constraint used in the vHLLE model, results in most sensitivity of rapidity distributions and transverse momentum spectra to a change of the $\eta/s$ ratio; however, their applicability for large values of $\eta/s$ is doubtful. On the contrary, the strict constraints from \cite{MNR2010} are very strong but most established. We also found that $\eta/s$ as a function of the collision energy probably has an extremum at $E_{\rm lab}=10.7$ AGeV. However, we obtain that any considered condition does not allow to reproduce simultaneously pion and proton experimental data within our model., Comment: 13 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1805.11463, arXiv:0906.4426 by other authors

The behavior of strange matter in the frame of the SU(3)Polyakov-loop extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model including $U_A(1)$ anomaly is considered. We discuss the appearance of a peak in the ratio of the number of strange mesons to non-strange mesons known as the "horn". The PNJL model gives a schematic description of the chiral phase transition and meson properties at finite temperature and density. Using the model, we can show that the splitting of kaon and anti-kaon masses appears as a result of introduction of density. This may explain the difference in the $K^+/\pi^+$ ratio and $K^-/\pi^-$ ratio at low $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ and their tendency to the same value at high $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$. We also show that the rise in the ratio $K^+/\pi^+$ appears near CEP when we build the $K^+/\pi^+$ ratio along the phase transition diagram and it can be considered as a critical region signal., Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures

We study the formation of fluid vorticity and the hyperon polarization in heavy-ion collisions at NICA energies in the framework of the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamic Model, taking into account both hadronic and quark-gluonic (partonic) degrees of freedom. The vorticity properties in peripheral Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$7.7\,GeV are demonstrated and confronted with other models. The obtained result for the $\Lambda$ polarization is in agreement with the experimental data by the STAR collaboration, whereas the model is not able to explain the observed high values of the anti-hyperon $\bar\Lambda$ polarization., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1704.01507 by other authors

It is proposed to identify a strong electric field - created during relativistic collisions of asymmetric nuclei - via the observation of pseudorapidity and transverse momentum distributions of hadrons with the same mass but opposite charge. The results of detailed calculations within the Parton-Hadron String Dynamics (PHSD) approach for the charge-dependent directed flow $v_1$ are presented for semi-central Cu+Au collision at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV incorporating the inverse Landau-Pomeranchuk-Migdal (iLPM) effect, which accounts for a delay in the electromagnetic interaction with the charged degree of freedom. Including the iLPM effect we achieve a reasonable agreement of the PHSD results for the charge splitting in $v_1(p_T)$ in line with the recent measurements of the STAR Collaboration for Cu+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV while an instant appearance and coupling of electric charges at the hard collision vertex overestimates the splitting by about a factor of 10. We predict that the iLPM effect should practically disappear at energies of $\sqrt{s_{NN}} \approx$9 GeV, which should lead to a significantly larger charge splitting of $v_1$ at the future FAIR/NICA facilities., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures

A 2-stage hybrid model is proposed that joins the fast initial state of interaction, described by the hadron string dynamics (HSD) model, to subsequent evolution of the expanding system at the second stage, treated within ideal hydrodynamics. The developed hybrid model is assigned to describe heavy-ion collisions in the energy range of the NICA collider under construction in Dubna. Generally, the model is in reasonable agreement with the available data on proton rapidity spectra. However, reproducing proton rapidity spectra, our hybrid model cannot describe the rapidity distributions of pions. The model should be improved by taking into consideration viscosity effects at the hydrodynamical stage of system evolution., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures

The 2-flavor Polyakov-loop extended model is generalized by taking into account the effective four-quark vector-type interaction with the coupling strengths, which are endowed with a dependence on the Polyakov field $\Phi$. The effective vertex generates entanglement interaction between the Polyakov loop and the chiral condensate. We investigate the influence of an additional quark vector interaction and the entanglement interaction on the location of the critical end-point at the given chemical potential or quark density. It is shown that the finite value of the vector interaction strength $G_{\rm v}$ improves the model agreement with the lattice data. The influence of the non-zero $G_{\rm v}$ and entanglement on the thermodynamic observables and the curvature of the crossover boundary in the $T-\mu$ plane is also examined., Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1006.3648 by other authors

The Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD) transport model is used to study the influence of the initial size of spatial fluctuations of the interacting system on flow observables in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 2.76 TeV for different centralities. While the flow coefficients $v_2$, $v_3$, $v_4$ and $v_5$ are reasonably described in comparison to the data from the ALICE Collaboration for different centralities within the default setting, no essential sensitivity is found with respect to the initial size of spatial fluctuations even for very central collisions where the flow coefficients are dominated by the size of initial state fluctuations. We attribute this lack of sensitivity partly to the low interaction rate of the degrees-of-freedom in this very early phase of order $\sim$ 0.3 fm/c which is also in common with the weakly interacting color glass condensate (CGC) or glasma approach. Moreover, since the event shape in the transverse plane is approximately the same for different size of spatial fluctuations very similar eccentricities $\epsilon_n$ are transformed to roughly the same flow coefficients $v_n$ in momentum space., Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1401.4409

The directed flow of identified hadrons is studied within the parton-hadron-string-dynamics (PHSD) approach for the asymmetric system Cu+Au in non-central collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV. It is emphasized that due to the difference in the number of protons of the colliding nuclei an electric field emerges which is directed from the heavy to the light nucleus. This strong electric field is only present for about 0.25 fm/c at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV and leads to a splitting of the directed flow $v_1$ for particles with the same mass but opposite electric charges in case of an early presence of charged quarks and antiquarks. The microscopic calculations of the directed flow for $\pi^\pm, K^\pm, p$ and $\bar{p}$ are carried out in the PHSD by taking into account the electromagnetic field induced by the spectators as well as its influence on the hadronic and partonic quasiparticle trajectories. It is shown that the splitting of the directed flow as a function of pseudorapidity $\eta$ and in particular as a function of the transverse momentum $p_t$ provides a direct access to the electromagnetic response of the very early (nonequilibrium) phase of relativistic heavy-ion collisions and allows to shed light on the presence (and number) of electric charges in this phase., Comment: 8 pages, 12 figures

Recent STAR data for the directed flow of protons, antiprotons and charged pions obtained within the beam energy scan program are analyzed within the Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD/HSD) transport models. Both versions of the kinetic approach are used to clarify the role of partonic degrees of freedom. The PHSD results, simulating a partonic phase and its coexistence with a hadronic one, are roughly consistent with the STAR data. Generally, the semi-qualitative agreement between the measured data and model results supports the idea of a crossover type of quark-hadron transition which softens the nuclear EoS but shows no indication of a first-order phase transition. Furthermore, the directed flow of kaons and antikaons is evaluated in the PHSD/HSD approachesfrom $\sqrt{s_{NN}} \approx$ 3 - 200 GeV which shows a high sensitivity to hadronic potentials in the FAIR/NICA energy regime $\sqrt{s_{NN}} \le$ 8 GeV., Comment: 12 pages, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on New Frontiers in Physics, Kolymbari, Crete, July 28th - Aug. 6th

Recent STAR data for the directed flow of protons, antiprotons, and charged pions obtained within the beam energy scan program are analyzed within the parton-hadron-string-dynamics (PHSD and HSD) transport models and a 3-fluid hydrodynamics (3FD) approach. Both versions of the kinetic approach, HSD and PHSD, are used to clarify the role of partonic degrees of freedom. The PHSD results, simulating a partonic phase and its coexistence with a hadronic one, are roughly consistent with data. The hydrodynamic results are obtained for two equations of state (EoS), a pure hadronic EoS and an EoS with a crossover type transition. The latter case is favored by the STAR experimental data. Special attention is paid to the description of antiproton directed flow based on the balance of $p\bar{p}$ annihilation and the inverse processes for $p\bar{p}$ pair creation from multimeson interactions. Generally, the semiqualitative agreement between the measured data and the model results supports the idea of a crossover type of quark-hadron transition that softens the nuclear EoS but shows no indication of a first-order phase transition., Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures

The Parton-Hadron-String-Dynamics (PHSD) transport model is employed for p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 5.02 TeV and compared to recent experimental data from the LHC as well as to alternative models. We focus on the question of initial state dynamics, i.e. if the initial state might be approximated by a superposition of independent nucleon-nucleon collisions or should be considered as a coherent gluon field as predicted within the color glass condensate (CGC) framework. We find that the PHSD approach provides correlations between the charged particle multiplicity at midrapidity and the number of participant nucleons close to results from the CGC and differs substantially from results calculated with independent Glauber initial conditions. However, a sizeable difference is found between the PHSD approach and CGC models with respect to the rapidity dependence of the average transverse momentum. Accordingly, related measurements at LHC should allow to prove or disprove the presence of coherent colour fields in the initial phase of the collisions., Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures

The in-medium elastic scattering $qq\to qq, q\bar{q}\to q\bar{q}$ and $\bar{q}\bar{q}\to \bar{q}\bar{q}$ is calculated within the two-flavor Polyakov-loop-extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model. The integral and differential quark-quark scattering, its energy and temperature dependence are considered and their flavor dependence is emphasized. The comparison with results of other approaches is presented. The consideration is implemented to the case of quark-pion scattering characterizing the interaction between quarks and hadrons in a kinetic multiphase treatment, and the first estimate of the quark-pion cross sections is given. A possible application of the obtained results to heavy ion collisions is shortly discussed., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables

The dynamics of partons and hadrons in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for the partonic phase (DQPM) including a dynamical hadronization scheme. The PHSD model reproduces a large variety of observables from SPS to LHC energies, e.g. the quark-number scaling of elliptic flow, transverse mass and rapidity spectra of charged hadrons, dilepton spectra, open and hidden charm production, collective flow coefficients etc., which are associated with the observation of a sQGP. The highlights of the latest results on collective flow are presented and open questions/perspectives are discussed., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, contribution to the Proceedings of the Kruger-2012 International Workshop on Discovery Physics at the LHC (Kruger National park in South Africa, December 3-7, 2012)

We study the dynamics of color fields as generated by simple configurations of relativistic particles with Abelian and non-Abelian (SU(2)) charges in the classical limit. We find that chromodynamic (non-Abelian) systems generally show Coulomb-like features by analogy with electrodynamics. A peculiar feature in the non-Abelian case is the additional strength of the chromoelectric and chromomagnetic fields caused by the contribution of changing the color charge. This change of color SU(2) charges results in a rotation of the color vector which is getting very fast at close partonic distances. The presence of this non-Abelian additional term in the chromoelectric and chromomagnetic fields creates a 'color charge glow', which is manifested as a distinct color wave disturbance arising due to the finite distance at which the color interaction becomes active. This situation may be relevant to the hadronization phase in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions, where the partonic state is governed by strong local color fluctuations., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures; discussion improved according to referee's remarks, results and conclusions not changed

In terms of the parton-hadron-string-dynamics (PHSD) approach - including the retarded electromagnetic field - we investigate the role of fluctuations of the correlation function in the azimuthal angle $\psi$ of charged hadrons that is expected to be a sensitive signal of local strong parity violation. For the early time we consider fluctuations in the position of charged spectators resulting in electromagnetic field fluctuations as well as in the position of participant baryons defining the event plane. For partonic and hadronic phases in intermediate stages of the interaction we study the possible formation of excited matter in electric charge dipole and quadrupole form as generated by fluctuations. The role of the transverse momentum and local charge conservation laws in the observed azimuthal asymmetry is investigated, too. All these above-mentioned effects are incorporated in our analysis based on event-by-event PHSD calculations. Furthermore, the azimuthal angular correlations from Au+Au collisions observed in the recent STAR measurements within the RHIC Beam-Energy-Scan (BES) program are studied. It is shown that the STAR correlation data at the collision energies of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 7.7 and 11.5 GeV can be reasonably reproduced within the PHSD. At higher energies the model fails to describe the $\psi$ correlation data resulting in an overestimation of the partonic scalar field involved. We conclude that an additional transverse anisotropy fluctuating source is needed which with a comparable strength acts on both in- and out-of-plane components., Comment: 20 pages, 19 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. C

The azimuthal anisotropies of the collective transverse flow of charged hadrons are investigated in a wide range of heavy-ion collision energies within the microscopic Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach which incorporates explicit partonic degrees-of-freedom in terms of strongly interacting quasiparticles (quarks and gluons) in line with an equation-of-state from lattice QCD as well as the dynamical hadronization and hadronic collision dynamics in the final reaction phase. The experimentally observed increase of the elliptic flow $v_2$ of charged hadrons with collision energy is successfully described in terms of the PHSD approach. The analysis of higher-order harmonics $v_3$ and $v_4$ in the azimuthal angular distribution shows a similar tendency of growing deviations between partonic and purely hadronic models with increasing collision energy. This demonstrates that the excitation functions of azimuthal anisotropies reflect the increasing role of quark-gluon degrees of freedom in the early phase of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, the specific variation of the ratio $v_4/(v_2)^2$ with respect to bombarding energy, centrality and transverse momentum is found to provide valuable information on the underlying partonic dynamics., Comment: Proceedings of 28th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics in Dorado del Mar, Puerto Rico, 7-14 April, 2012. 9 pages, 4 figures

The bulk viscosity is calculated for hadron matter produced in heavy-ion collisions, being described in the relaxation time approximation withi n the relativistic mean- field-based model with scaled hadron masses and couplings. W e show how different approximations used in the literature affect the result. Nume rical evaluations of the bulk viscosity with three considered models deviate not much from each other confirming earlier results., Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures

The dynamics of partons, hadrons and strings in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for partons (DQPM) matched to reproduce recent lattice-QCD results - including the partonic equation of state - in thermodynamic equilibrium. The transition from partonic to hadronic degrees of freedom is described by covariant transition rates for the fusion of quark-antiquark pairs or three quarks (antiquarks), respectively, obeying flavor current-conservation, color neutrality as well as energy-momentum conservation. The PHSD approach is applied to nucleus-nucleus collisions from low SIS to RHIC energies. The traces of partonic interactions are found in particular in the elliptic flow of hadrons as well as in their transverse mass spectra., Comment: To be published by Springer in Proceedings of the International Symposium on `Exciting Physics', Makutsi-Range, South Africa, 13-20 November, 2011

The azimuthal anisotropies of the collective transverse flow of charged hadrons are investigated in a wide range of heavy-ion collision energies within the microscopic parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) transport approach which incorporates explicit partonic degrees of freedom in terms of strongly interacting quasiparticles (quarks and gluons) in line with an equation of state from lattice QCD as well as the dynamical hadronization and hadronic collision dynamics in the final reaction phase. The experimentally observed increase of the elliptic flow $v_2$ of charged hadrons with collision energy is successfully described in terms of the PHSD approach. The PHSD scaling properties of various collective observables are confronted with experimental data as well as with hydrodynamic predictions. The analysis of higher-order harmonics $v_3$ and $v_4$ in the azimuthal angular distribution shows a similar tendency of growing deviations between partonic and purely hadronic models with increasing collision energy. This demonstrates that the excitation functions of azimuthal anisotropies reflect the increasing role of quark-gluon degrees of freedom in the early phase of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, the specific variation of the ratio $v_4/(v_2)^2$ with respect to bombarding energy, centrality and transverse momentum is found to provide valuable information on the underlying dynamics., Comment: 15 pages, 19 figures

In terms of the hadron-string-dynamics (HSD) approach we investigate the correlation function in the azimuthal angle $\psi$ of charged hadrons that is expected to be sensitive to a signal of local strong parity violation. Our analysis of Au+Au collisions is based on the recent STAR data within the RHIC Beam-Energy-Scan (BES) program. The HSD model reasonably reproduces STAR data for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$7.7 GeV, while there are some deviations from the experiment at the collision energy of 11.5 GeV and an increase of deviations between theory and experiment at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$39 GeV. For reference, the results for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 200 GeV are given as well. The role of the retarded electromagnetic field is discussed and a compensation effect for the action of its electric and magnetic components is pointed out. We conclude that the recent RHIC BES data at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$7.7 and 11.5 GeV can be understood on the hadronic level without involving the idea of a strong parity violation; however, at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}\sim$40 GeV and above one needs to take into consideration explicit partonic (quark-qluon) degrees-of-freedom for a proper treatment of the dynamics., Comment: 6pages, 3 figures, 1 table; title changed by editor, references updated

The thermodynamic behavior of the two-flavor($N_f=$2) three-color ($N_c=3$) Polyakov-loop-extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model at the finite chemical potential is investigated. New lattice gluon data for gluon thermodynamics are used defining the effective potential within polynomial and logarithmic forms of its approximation. We study the effects of using different sets of data and different forms of the potential on thermodynamic properties of hot and dense matter. It is found that the PNJL thermodynamics depends stronger on the form of the effective potential than on the used lattice data set. Particular attention is paid to the phase diagram in the $(T,\mu)$ plane., Comment: 15 pages, 9 figures, 4 tables

The energy dependence of observable two particle correlator in search for the local strong parity violation in Au+Au collisions is estimated within a simple phenomenological model. The model reproduces available RHIC data but at LHC predicts that the Chiral Magnetic effect (CME) will be about 20 times weaker than at RHIC, contrary to the first LHC measurements. In the lower energy range this effect should vanish sharply at energy somewhere above the top SPS one with agreement with the preliminary results of the Beam Energy Scan program. To elucidate CME background effects a transport HSD model including magnetic field evolution is put forward and electromagnetic dynamics at the RHIC energy is investigated. It is observed that the electromagnetic field included into the hadronic model does not influence on observables due to mutual compensation of effects of electric and magnetic fields., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures; corrected typos, acknowledgement added; invited talk at the Max Born Simposium 2011, International Meeting "Three Days on Quarqyonic Island", May 19-21, Wroclaw, 2011

The azimuthal anisotropies of the collective transverse flow of hadrons are investigated in a large range of heavy-ion collision energy within the Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) microscopic transport approach which incorporates explicit partonic degrees of freedom in terms of strongly interacting quasiparticles (quarks and gluons) in line with an equation-of-state from lattice QCD as well as dynamical hadronization and hadronic dynamics in the final reaction phase. The experimentally observed increase of the elliptic flow $v_2$ with bombarding energy is successfully described in terms of the PHSD approach in contrast to a variety of other kinetic models based on hadronic interactions. The analysis of higher-order harmonics $v_3$ and $v_4$ shows a similar tendency of growing deviations between partonic and purely hadronic models with increasing bombarding energy. This signals that the excitation functions of azimuthal anisotropies provide a sensitive probe for the underling degrees of freedom excited in heavy-ion collisions., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, title changed

Shear and bulk viscosity-to-entropy density ratios are calculated for the pure gluon matter in a non-equilibrium mean-field quasiparticle approach within the relaxation time approximation. We study how different approximations used in the literature affect the results for the shear and bulk viscosities. Though the results for the shear viscosity turned out to be quite robust, all evaluations of the shear and bulk viscosities obtained in the framework of the relaxation time approximation can be considered only as rough estimations., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures

Properties of a scalar $\sigma$-meson are investigated in the two-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with the Polyakov loop. Model analysis of the phase diagram of strong interacting matter is performed. The temperature dependence of the $\sigma\rightarrow\pi\pi$ decay width is studied at the zero chemical potential and near the critical end-point. The calculated strong coupling constant $g_{\sigma\pi\pi}$ and the decay width are compared with available experimental data and other model results. Nonthermal enhancement of the total decay width is noted for the $\sigma$ meson near the critical end-point when the condition $m_\sigma\geq2m_\pi$ is broken., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures

The hadron string dynamics (HSD) model is generalized to include the creation and evolution of retarded electromagnetic fields as well as the influence of the magnetic and electric fields on the quasiparticle propagation. The time-space structure of the fields is analyzed in detail for non-central Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$200 GeV. It is shown that the created magnetic field is highly inhomogeneous but in the central region of the overlapping nuclei it changes relatively weakly in the transverse direction. For the impact parameter $b=$10 fm the maximal magnetic field - perpendicularly to the reaction plane - is obtained of order $eB_y/m_\pi^2\sim$5 for a very short time $\sim$ 0.2 fm/c, which roughly corresponds to the time of a maximal overlap of the colliding nuclei. We find that at any time the location of the maximum in the $eB_y$ distribution correlates with that of the energy density of the created particles. In contrast, the electric field distribution, being also highly inhomogeneous, has a minimum in the center of the overlap region. Furthermore, the field characteristics are presented as a function of the collision energy and the centrality of the collisions. To explore the effect of the back reaction of the fields on hadronic observables a comparison of HSD results with and without fields is exemplified. Our actual calculations show no noticeable influence of the electromagnetic fields - created in heavy-ion collisions - on the effect of the electric charge separation with respect to the reaction plane., Comment: 17 pages, 22 figures, title changed by editor, accepted for PRC

Thermodynamic behavior of conventional Nambu-Jona-Lasinio and Polyakov-loop-extended Nambu-Jona-Lasinio models is compared. A particular attention is paid to the phase diagram in the ($T -\mu$) plane., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

The hydrokinetic model and the scheme of dynamical freeze out proposed earlier for the RHIC energy are extended to lower colliding energy for non-vanishing baryon chemical potential. In this case a new two-phase equation of state is applied where baryon-rich hadronic matter is described within modified relativistic mean-field theory. As an example, the approach is employed for analyzing pion and kaon spectra and interferometry radii of Pb+Pb collisions at laboratory energies 40 and 158 AGeV. A good agreement is observed for the transverse mass dependence of the longitudinal radius for both energies studied. The transverse radii $R_{out}, R_{side}$ reproduce experiment at $E_{lab}=$158\ AGeV but at $E_{lab}=$40\ AGeV there is a marked (20 \%) difference from experimental points. This discrepancy is more noticeable in analysis of the ratio $R_{out}/R_{side}$. Nevertheless, considered examples of application of the hydrokinetic model with equation of state including the first order phase transition are quite successful and further development of the model is required., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures

We consider the energy dependence of the local ${\cal P}$ and ${\cal CP}$ violation in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions over a large energy range within a simple phenomenological model. It is expected that at LHC the chiral magnetic effect will be about 20 times weaker than at RHIC. At lower energy range this effect should vanish sharply at energy somewhere above the top SPS one. To elucidate CME background effects a transport model including magnetic field evolution is put forward., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

The energy dependence of the local ${\cal P}$ and ${\cal CP}$ violation in Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions in a large energy range is estimated within a simple phenomenological model. It is expected that at LHC the Chiral Magnetic effect (CME) will be about 20 times weaker than at RHIC. In the lower energy range this effect should vanish sharply at energy somewhere above the top SPS one. To elucidate CME background effects a transport model including magnetic field evolution is put forward., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

Shear $\eta$ and bulk $\zeta$ viscosities are calculated in a quasiparticle model within a relaxation time approximation for pure gluon matter. Below $T_c$ the confined sector is described within a quasiparticle glueball model. Particular attention is paid to behavior of the shear and bulk viscosities near $T_c$. The constructed equation of state reproduces the first-order phase transition for the glue matter. It is shown that with this equation of state it is possible to describe the temperature dependence of the shear viscosity to entropy ratio $\eta/s$ and the bulk viscosity to entropy ratio $\zeta/s$ in reasonable agreement with available lattice data but absolute values of the $\zeta/s$ ratio underestimate the upper limits of this ratio in the lattice measurements typically by an order of magnitude., Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; the published version

The shear ($\eta$) and bulk ($\zeta$) viscosities are calculated in a quasiparticle relaxation time approximation. The hadron phase is described within the relativistic mean field based model with scaled hadron masses and couplings. The quark phase is treated in terms of the heavy quark bag model fitted to the lattice data. A two-phase model allowing for the first order phase transition from the hadron phase to the strongly coupled quark gluon plasma is constructed by means of the Gibbs conditions. Temperature and baryon density dependence of the calculated viscosity-to-entropy ratios ($\eta/s$, $\zeta/s$) are analyzed and compared with those obtained in other models. Special attention is paid to the behavior of viscosity coefficients near the critical temperature, from both hadron and quark-gluon side. Effects of resonance widths on viscosities and viscosity-to-entropy ratios are estimated., Comment: 56 pages, 22 figures

The shear ($\eta$) and bulk ($\zeta$) viscosities are calculated in a quasiparticle relaxation time approximation for a hadron matter described within the relativistic mean-field based model with scaled hadron masses and couplings. Comparison with results of other models is presented. We demonstrate that a small value of the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio required for explaining a large elliptic flow observed at RHIC may be reached in the hadron phase. Large values of the bulk viscosity are noted in case of the baryon enriched matter., Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures; minor clarifying changes

Along with $\pi^0$ and $\eta$ mesons, a resonance structure in the invariant mass spectrum of two photons at $M_{\gamma\gamma}= 360 \pm 7 \pm 9$ MeV is observed in the reaction $d C\to\gamma + \gamma +X$ at momentum 2.75 GeV/c per nucleon. Estimates of its width and production cross section are $\Gamma = 63.7 \pm 17.8$ MeV and $\sigma_{\gamma\gamma}=98\pm24^{+93}_{-67} {\rm \mu b}$, respectively. The collected statistics amount to $2339 \pm 340$ events of $1.5\cdot 10^6$ triggered interactions of a total number $\sim 10^{12}$ of $d$C-interactions. This resonance structure is not observed in $p$C collisions at the beam momentum 5.5 GeV/c. Possible mechanisms of this ABC-like effect are discussed.

Here we continue to elaborate properties of the relativistic mean-field based model (SHMC) proposed in ref. [6] where hadron masses and coupling constants depend on the $\sigma$-meson field. The validity of approximations used in [6] is discussed. We additionally incorporate contribution of meson excitations to the equations of motion. We also estimate the effects of the particle width. It is demonstrated that the inclusion of the baryon-baryon hole and baryon-antibaryon loop terms, if performed perturbatively, destroys the consistency of the model., Comment: 44 pages, 14 figures; corrected according to referee's remarks, version accepted for publication in Nucl. Phys. A

In-medium effects of transverse-mass distributions of quarks and gluons are considered assuming a possible local equilibrium for colorless quark objects like mesons and baryons created in central A+A collisions. It is shown that the average square of the transverse momentum for these partons grows and then saturates when the initial energy increases. Within the quark-gluon string model it leads to the energy dependence of hadron transverse mass spectra which is similar to that observed in heavy ion collisions. Comparison with other scenarios is given., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Talk given at the Workshop "Relativistic Nuclear Physics: from Nuclotron to LHC energies", Kiev, Ukraine, June 18-22, 2007

In-medium effects on transverse-mass distributions of quarks and gluons are considered assuming a possible local equilibrium for colorless quark objects (mesons and baryons) created in central A-A collisions. It is shown that the average transverse momentum squared for these partons grows and then saturates when the initial energy increases. Within the quark-gluon string model it leads to the colliding energy dependence of hadron transverse mass spectra which is similar to that observed in heavy ion collisions. Comparison with other scenarios is given., Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Talk given at 13th Lomonosov Conference on Elementary Particle Physics, Moscow, Russia, August 23-29, 2007

A kinetic theory of vacuum particle creation under the action of an inertial mechanism is constructed within a nonpertrubative dynamical approach. At the semi-phenomenological level, the inertial mechanism corresponds to quantum field theory with a time-dependent mass. At the microscopic level, such a dependence may be caused by different reasons: The non-stationary Higgs mechanism, the influence of a mean field or condensate, the presence of the conformal multiplier in the scalar-tensor gravitation theory etc. In what follows, a kinetic theory in the collisionless approximation is developed for scalar, spinor and massive vector fields in the framework of the oscillator representation, which is an effective tool for transition to the quasiparticle description and for derivation of non-Markovian kinetic equations. Properties of these equations and relevant observables (particle number and energy densities, pressure) are studied. The developed theory is applied here to describe the vacuum matter creation in conformal cosmological models and discuss the problem of the observed number density of photons in the cosmic microwave background radiation. As other example, the self-consistent evolution of scalar fields with non-monotonic self-interaction potentials (the W-potential and Witten - Di Vecchia - Veneziano model) is considered. In particular, conditions for appearance of tachyonic modes and a problem of the relevant definition of a vacuum state are considered., Comment: 51 pages, 18 figures, submitted to PEPAN (JINR, Dubna); v2: added references

The proposed earlier relativistic mean-field model with hadron masses and coupling constants depending on the $\sigma$-meson field is generalized to finite temperatures. Within this approach we simulate the in-medium behavior of the hadron masses motivated by the Brown-Rho scaling. The high-lying baryon resonances and boson excitations as well as excitations of the $\sigma$, $\omega$ and $\rho$ fields interacting via mean fields are incorporated into this scheme. Thermodynamic properties of hot and dense hadronic matter are elaborated with the constructed equation of state. Even at zero baryon density, effective masses of $\sigma$-$\omega$-$\rho$-$N$ excitations abruptly drop down for $T\gsim 170$ MeV and reach zero at a critical temperature $T=T_{c\sigma}\sim 210$ MeV. Below $T_{c\sigma}$ (at $T\sim 190$ MeV) the specific heat gets a peak like at crossover. We demonstrate that our EoS can be matched with that computed on the lattice for high temperatures provided the baryon resonance couplings with nucleon are partially suppressed. In this case the quark liquid would masquerade as the hadron one. The model is applied to description of heavy ion collisions in a broad collision energy range. It might be especially helpful for studying phase diagram in the region near possible phase transitions., Comment: 53 pages, 16 figures; minor changes made, references added

Central collisions of gold nuclei are simulated by several existing models and the central net baryon density rho and the energy density eps are extracted at successive times, for beam kinetic energies of 5-40 GeV per nucleon. The resulting trajectories in the (rho,eps) phase plane are discussed from the perspective of experimentally exploring the expected first-order hadronization phase transition with the planned FAIR at GSI or in a low-energy campaign at RHIC., Comment: 11 pages formatted, 17 eps files for 9 figures

Physics aspects of a JINR project to reach the planned 5A GeV energy for the Au and U beams and to increase the bombarding energy up to 10A GeV are discussed. The project aims to search for a possible formation of a strongly interacting mixed quark-hadron phase. The relevant problems are exemplified. A need for scanning heavy-ion interactions in bombarding energy, collision centrality and isospin asymmetry is emphasized., Comment: 23 pages, 16 figures, LaTeX, talk given at XXXIII International Conference On High Energy Physics (ICHEP'06), Moscow, 26.07- 02.08, 2006

Based on the quasi-particle description of the QCD medium at finite temperature and density we formulate the phenomenological model for the equation of state that exhibits crossover or the first order deconfinement phase transition. The models are constructed in such a way to be thermodynamically consistent and to satisfy the properties of the ground state nuclear matter comply with constraints from intermediate heavy--ion collision data. Our equations of states show quite reasonable agreement with the recent lattice findings on temperature and baryon chemical potential dependence of relevant thermodynamical quantities in the parameter range covering both the hadronic and quark--gluon sectors. The model predictions on the isentropic trajectories in the phase diagram are shown to be consistent with the recent lattice results. Our nuclear equations of states are to be considered as an input to the dynamical models describing the production and the time evolution of a thermalized medium created in heavy ion collisions in a broad energy range from SIS up to LHC., Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures