Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Holography under extreme conditions

Project description

Studying the strange properties of quark-gluon plasma

Quark-gluon plasma (QGP) filled the entire universe the moment before matter was created. Today, its properties and mechanisms of fast onset (still unexplained) are studied by theoretical physicians in the experimental research taking place at the Large Hadron Collider and Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The close-to-perfectly-fluid nature of QGP has been proved. However, its mechanism of emergence from hadronic collisions or the liquid-like behaviour of small systems emerging from proton-proton collisions are yet to be explained. The EU-funded ExHolo project aims to create a dynamical picture of the thermalisation of out-of-equilibrium matter into hydrodynamic fields. It will use a novelty framework and real-time approach for studying dynamics of hot matter out of equilibrium to tag the QGP properties of heavy-ion collisions.

Objective

Understanding the properties of extreme phases of nuclear matter is one of the major challenges in theoretical physics today. Matter at high temperatures dominated the first microsecond of the early universe and is nowadays produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions in the form of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). Systematic experimental studies at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) support the picture of the QGP as an almost perfect fluid but the mechanism for its fast emergence from collisions of hadronic matter remains a puzzle to this day. Another surprising observation was the liquid-like behavior of small systems emerging from proton-proton or proton-lead collisions and the absence of jet quenching which is considered to be a crucial probe characterizing the strongly-coupled QGP.

In this proposal I aim at finding a dynamical picture of the thermalisation of out-of-equilibrium matter into hydrodynamic fields by making use of a powerful new framework for studying strongly-coupled dynamical systems: the gauge/gravity duality. It allows to map the strongly-coupled gauge theory dynamics of colliding ions to the collision of gravitational shockwaves which is amenable to numerical general relativity. This offers a unique real-time approach to study the dynamics of hot matter out-of-equilibrium, which I will exploit to tackle two essential problems: i) out-of-equilibrium emergence of collectivity and the fast thermalization of the QGP; ii) system-size dependence of the momentum broadening by jets; This project is inter-disciplinary as it involves applying numerical gravity via holography to the physics of matter at extreme conditions, using the most advanced High-Performance-Computing techniques which I am an expert in. The understanding of the thermalisation scale, of jet quenching and the description of pre-flow, is essential for a determination of the QGP properties of heavy-ion collisions.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

ORGANISATION EUROPEENNE POUR LA RECHERCHE NUCLEAIRE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 191 149,44
Address
ESPLANADE DES PARTICULES 1 PARCELLE 11482 DE MEYRIN BATIMENT CADASTRAL 1046
1211 GENEVE 23
Switzerland

See on map

Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Genève
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 191 149,44
My booklet 0 0