Thesis

Unravelling the most perfect liquid

• Call:

  IDPASC Portugal - PHD Programme 2015

• Academic Year:

  2015 / 2016

• Domain:

  Theoretical Particle Physics

• Supervisor:

  José Guilherme Milhano

• Co-Supervisor:

  Liliana Apolinário

• Institution:

  Instituto Superior Técnico

• Host Institution:

  CENTRA-IST

• Abstract:

  The LHC heavy ion programme has placed the study of unexplored domains of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) within reach. The assertion that Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) is formed in such collisions is solidly supported by a wide range of experimental observations that further establish its properties: a hot and dense system of strongly interacting fundamental constituents of matter (quarks and gluons) that manifests collective properties of a nearly perfect, the most perfect ever produced by humankind, liquid. The first LHC running period vindicated optimistic expectations that jets could be fully and reliably reconstructed above the large and fluctuating backgrounds present in heavy ion collisions. The second LHC running period (scheduled to start in mid-2015) will deliver large samples of reconstructed jets paving the way for a new phase of exploration of the QGP: one where the unravelling of its multi-scale dynamics is a realistic goal. This PhD proposal focuses on the exploration of the potential of jets as detailed probes of the QGP. A detailed work programme, to be established jointly with the candidate and tailored to suit her/his interests, will address: (i) the development of a complete theory of jet development in the presence of a QGP; (ii) the identification of physical observables computable within the theory and measurable experimentally with sensitivity to specific QGP properties, where image recognition techniques are expected to play a role; (iii) the development of a theoretically sound event-generator for hard-processes (jets) in heavy ion collisions. The work will be carried out within a large network of collaborators at CERN, Santiago de Compostela and MIT.