Introduction to Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions

This general introduction to the field of high energy heavy ion physics covers a range of subjects, from intermediate to ultra-relativistic energies, in order to enable advanced undergraduates and postgraduates to communicate with researchers in neighbouring or related fields.

---

The purpose of this text is to give a general introduction to all beginners in the field of high energy heavy ion physics. It tries to cover a wide range of subjects from intermediate to ultra-relativistic energies, so that it provides an overview of heavy ion physics, in order to enable the reader to understand and communicate with researchers in neighbouring or related fields. Some familiarity with basic nuclear physics, statistical physics and special relativity is assumed. The book is essentially based on a simple introduction to relativistic kinetic theory, with ample examples from the field of heavy ion physics. It introduces the basic variables used in the field. Collective macroscopic features of the dense and high temperature matter are discussed. Collective fluid dynamical approaches are introduced in detail, and simple (frequently analytically solvable) models are presented. The properties of the nuclear Equation of State are discussed at an introductory level, mentioning some results from the recent years.
The connections between the collective dynamical descriptions and the experimentally measurable quantities are shown, and the mass and energy scaling of data is used to discuss the observability of dissipative properties of the high energy matter. Microscopic and inherently nonequilibrium descriptions are discussed only briefly. Recent advances in the search for the quark gluon plasma are discussed in an extended chapter. Finally, a few connections to astrophysics are mentioned.