|
Physical Society ColloquiumUnveiling the Phases of Quark MatterRajagopal KrishnaMITIf you heat nuclei up (as in the big bang or in heavy ion collision experiments) or squeeze them (as within neutron stars) new phases of matter result. After a brief look at hot quark matter, usually called a quark-gluon plasma, I focus on the rather different physics of cold, dense, quark matter. Most physical properties of this stuff are governed by the nature of the BCS pairing therein. At high enough density, the result is a color superconductor that nevertheless turns out to behave like a transparent insulator if probed electromagnetically. At lower densities, quark matter remains a color superconductor but, electromagnetically speaking, becomes a metal with unusual properties. At still lower densities, quark matter may in a certain sense be crystalline. I end with remarks on consequences for the physics of compact stars.
Friday, September 10th 2004, 15:30
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, Keys Auditorium (room 112) |