Higgs and New Physics Searches with ATLAS
L. Chevalier · Acta Physica Polonica B Proceedings Supplement · 2013
In this proceedings contribution, we review recent calculations of the dynamics of the chromo-Weibel instability in the quark-gluon plasma.This instability is present in gauge theories which possess a one-particle distribution function which, in the local rest frame, is momentum-space anisotropic.The conditions necessary for triggering this instability can be present already in the color-glass-condensate initial state or dynamically generated by the rapid longitudinal expansion of the matter created in a heavyion collision.Using the hard-loop framework, we study the case that the one-particle distribution function possesses an arbitrary initial momentum anisotropy that increases in time due to longitudinal free streaming.The resulting three-dimensional dynamical equations for the chromofield evolution are solved numerically.We find that there is regeneration of the longitudinal pressure due to unstable plasma modes; nevertheless, the system seems to maintain a high-degree of momentum-space anisotropy.Despite this anisotropy, we find that there is rapid longitudinal thermalization of the plasma due to the non-linear mode couplings inherent in the unstable evolution.