Hard loop effective theory of the (anisotropic) quark gluon plasma

Abstract

The generalization of the hard thermal loop effective theory to anisotropic plasmas is described with a detailed discussion of anisotropic dispersion laws and plasma instabilities. The numerical results obtained in real-time lattice simulations of the hard loop effective theory are reviewed, both for the stationary anisotropic case and for a quark-gluon plasma undergoing boost-invariant expansion.

Comments: 16 pages, 11 figures. Invited lecture given at the 30th Course of the International School of Nuclear Physics, "Heavy Ion Collisions from the Coulomb Barrier to the Quark Gluon Plasma", Erice, Sicily, 16-24 September 2008. v2: references added