Non-Abelian color fields from relativistic color charge configurations in the classical limit

Abstract

We study the dynamics of color fields as generated by simple configurations of relativistic particles with Abelian and non-Abelian (SU(2)) charges in the classical limit. We find that chromodynamic (non-Abelian) systems generally show Coulomb-like features by analogy with electrodynamics. A peculiar feature in the non-Abelian case is the additional strength of the chromoelectric and chromomagnetic fields caused by the contribution of changing the color charge. This change of color SU(2) charges results in a rotation of the color vector which is getting very fast at close partonic distances. The presence of this non-Abelian additional term in the chromoelectric and chromomagnetic fields creates a 'color charge glow', which is manifested as a distinct color wave disturbance arising due to the finite distance at which the color interaction becomes active. This situation may be relevant to the hadronization phase in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions, where the partonic state is governed by strong local color fluctuations.

Comments: 21 pages, 13 figures; discussion improved according to referee's remarks, results and conclusions not changed