Energy loss at strong coupling from AdS/CFT

by Edmond Iancu (IPhT Saclay & CERN PH-TH)

Wednesday 8 Dec 2010, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Zurich

TH Theory Conference Room (CERN)

I review the applications of the gauge/string duality (or AdS/CFT correspondence)to high energy processes relevant for ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions, so like the energy loss and the transverse momentum broadening of a heavy quark moving through a strongly coupled plasma. I emphasize that the mechanism for energy loss is different at strong coupling as compared to weak coupling, and this difference implies a stronger dependence upon medium properties like size or temperature. I also discuss the problem of the radiation by accelerated sources in the vacuum. I argue that the corresponding space-time distribution is not correctly predicted by the supergravity approximation (the semiclassical limit of the dual string theory). I identify and heuristically estimate a class of string corrections which are not suppressed in the strong coupling limit and whose inclusion generates a space-time pattern for the radiation which is physically meaningful.

Slides Iancu.pdf