Creating the Primordial Quark-Gluon Plasma at the LHC

Explore the creation of primordial quark-gluon plasma in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in this 37-minute conference talk by Dr. John W. Harris from Yale University. Delivered at the APS April Meeting 2013 in Denver, the presentation delves into the behavior of QCD at high temperatures, modifications to QCD coupling constants, and the dynamics and evolution of relativistic heavy ion collisions. Examine the system size and lifetimes of the plasma, particle formation at universal hadronization, and event-by-event initial conditions. Discover how thermal photons provide insight into the "shining" of the quark-gluon plasma and learn about probing hot QCD matter with hard probes. Compare p-Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC, explore jet quenching phenomena, and investigate energy dissipation in these collisions. Gain an understanding of the future LHC heavy ion program and its implications for our knowledge of the early universe.