Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Measurement and Analysis of Atomic Hydrogen and Diatomic Molecular AlO, C2, CN, and TiO Spectra Following Laser-induced Optical Breakdown
Published on: February 14, 2014
Critical opacity: a possible explanation of the fast thermalization times seen in BNL RHIC experiments
F Gastineau1, E Blanquier, J Aichelin
1SUBATECH, Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et des Technologies Associées, University of Nantes-IN2P3/CNRS-Ecole des Mines de Nantes, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, F-44072 Nantes, CEDEX 03, France.
Abstract:
The Nambu-Jona-Lasinio Lagrangian offers an explication of the seemingly contradictory observations that (a) the energy loss in the entrance channel of heavy ion reactions is not sufficient to thermalize the system and that (b) the observed hadron cross sections are in almost perfect agreement with hydrodynamical calculations. According to this scenario, a critical opacity develops close to the chiral phase transition which equilibrates and hadronizes the expanding system very effectively. It creates as well radial flow and, if the system is not isotropic, finite upsilon2 values.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I
Radiation: Applications
The average...
Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution: Problem Solving
This distribution function f(v) is defined by saying that the expected number N (v1,v2) of particles with speeds between v1 and v2 is given by
Joule-Thomson Effect
This experiment forces high-pressure gas through a throttle valve or a porous plug to a lower-pressure region. The gas expands as it passes through to...
Fast Reactions

