The Search for QCD Sphalerons and the Chiral Magnetic Effect in Heavy-Ion Collisions with ALICE

by Jacopo Margutti (Utrecht University (NL))

Tuesday 7 Nov 2017, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Zurich

503/1-001 - Council Chamber (CERN)

In non-central heavy-ion collisions unprecedented strong magnetic fields, of the order of 10^14 T, are expected to be produced by the incoming protons contained in the nuclei. These fields can be used to detect possible non-conservation of chirality in the QCD sector, a signature of sphaleron transitions. In particular, the interplay of chiral imbalance and magnetic fields results in the separation of positive and negative charges along the direction of the field, a phenomenon called “Chiral Magnetic Effect” (CME). In this seminar, the challenges and the opportunities in the search for the CME and the detection of magnetic fields in heavy-ion collisions will be discussed, with an emphasis on recent ALICE results.

CERNLHCSeminar07.11.17.pdf

jmargutti_CERNLHCSeminar.pdf

Recording