Open quantum systems for quarkonia
Xiaojun Yao
Abstract
I review recent applications of the open quantum system framework in the understanding of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions, which has been used as a probe of the quark–gluon plasma for decades. The derivation of the Lindblad equations for quarkonium in both the quantum Brownian motion and the quantum optical limits and their semiclassical counterparts is explained. The hierarchy of time scales assumed in the derivation is justified from the separation of energy scales in nonrelativistic effective field theories of QCD. Physical implications of the open quantum system approach are also discussed. Finally, I list some open questions for future studies.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsQuarkoniumSemiclassical physicsQuantumOpen quantum systemQuantum field theoryQuantum mechanicsField (mathematics)Quantum electrodynamicsQuantum dissipationOpen system (computing)Equations of motionQuantum dynamicsMaster equationBrownian motionQuantum processTheoretical physicsQuantum fluctuationClassical mechanicsQuantum systemHierarchyQuantum chromodynamicsQuantum decoherenceEnergy (signal processing)Quantum opticsQuantum operationFock spacePhysical systemParticle physicsHigh-Energy Particle Collisions ResearchDust and Plasma Wave PhenomenaQuantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions