QCD perspectives on hot and dense matter : Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on QCD Perspectives on Hot and Dense Matter, Cargèse, France, August 6 to 18, 2001 00

Many facets of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) are relevant to the in-depth discussion of theoretical and experimental aspects of high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. Exciting phenomena are being discovered in such ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions, notably the increasingly important role of deconfined quark-gluon matter created in the early stage. The book contains lectures on the physics of hot dense matter, the expected phase transitions and colour superconductivity, recent developments in the treatment of nonlinear effects at large parton densities, fundamental issues in the phenomenology of ultrarelativistic heavy collisions. The latest data on heavy ion collisions are also presented. A unique collection of lectures on the many facets of QCD relevant to the physics of hot dense matter. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Perturbative QCD for Beginners....Pages 1-44 Parton Saturation: An Overview....Pages 45-72 The Colour Glass Condensate: An Introduction....Pages 73-145 Recent Progress in Computing Initial Conditions for High Energy Heavy Ion Collisions....Pages 147-158 Regge Poles in QCD and Heavy-Ion Collisions....Pages 159-205 Classical Chromo-Dynamics of Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions....Pages 207-236 Collective Dynamics in Heavy Ion Collisions....Pages 237-256 Experimentalists are from Mars, Theorists are from Venus....Pages 257-304 Quantum Fields at Finite Temperature: A Brief Introduction....Pages 305-326 HTL Perturbation Theory and QCD Thermodynamics....Pages 327-351 Notes on the Deconfining Phase Transition....Pages 353-384 Lattice QCD at Finite Temperature....Pages 385-417 Variational Approach to the Dynamics of Quantum Fields....Pages 419-431 Lectures on Chiral Disorder in QCD....Pages 433-460 Heavy Ion Physics at the LHC....Pages 461-473 Color Superconductivity....Pages 475-522 Our field has emerged as a result of the digression: natural philosophy physics quantum physics elementary particle physics. Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute, held in Cargese, France, August 6-18, 2001