Objective Understanding the properties of extreme phases of nuclear matter created in relativistic heavy ion collisions is one of the major challenges in theoretical physics. Matter under such extreme conditions was present in the very early universe and is nowadays produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions. In this proposal we address two questions that are central to the understanding of the very early stages of such collisions from the perspective of both strongly and weakly coupled field theory: What is the time-scale of the thermalization and why does it happen so fast?We will study these questions in the strongly coupled setup via the gauge/gravity duality by utilizing numerical relativity techniques to describe black hole formation in the gravity side. This allows to access real-time dependent non-equilibrium dynamical quantities and will improve the understanding of pre-equilibrium flow in heavy ion collisions. In order to understand thermalization at intermediate couplings we will carry out a comparison between strong and weak coupling approaches. Fields of science natural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsparticle acceleratornatural sciencesphysical sciencesnuclear physicsnatural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyphysical cosmologybig bangnatural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsgluonsnatural sciencesphysical sciencestheoretical physicsparticle physicsquarks Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator UNIVERSITAT DE BARCELONA Net EU contribution € 158 121,60 Address GRAN VIA DE LES CORTS CATALANES 585 08007 Barcelona Spain See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 158 121,60