Color-glass condensate popular-science level description please?

Schneibster

I have a general understanding of high energy particle physics and the standard model.

Can someone explain the color-glass condensate results in the recent p-Pb collision results at the LHC for me, and most especially why "glass" is appropriate? I understand the Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_glass_condensate fairly well, but want a bit more depth, particularly in why one can generalize the oncoming relativistic nucleus as a "wall of gluons," and why this is not expected in the case of a single proton.

jimgraber

Yes, please also describe the difference between a quark gluon plasma and a color glass condensate. Despite reading both wikipedia entries, I don't get it.

Bill_K

"Some think that, before nuclei colliding at high energy can make quark-gluon plasma, they become densely compressed — a color glass condensate — in the direction they are being accelerated. Upon impact, color glass condensate is thought to “shatter,” thus forming the plasma."

Bill_K

It's not exactly popular-science level, but I think this article is the most qualitative, equation-free description of color glass around.

Schneibster

Thank you. I will comment soon, today is busy with turkey soup. :D

Schneibster

Oh, it's a color spin glass condensate.

Gotcha.