HEP Theory Journal Club

A Quark-Gluon-Plasma inspired cosmological scenario

Melissa Mendes

McGill & University of Campinas

We show that several ingredients crucial to the standard cosmological model (inflation, dark matter, dark energy) could all have a common origin in a Yang-Mills theory decoupled from the standard model, due to a few recent well-known results of finite temperature Yang-Mills theory [1, 2].

Several aspects of finite temperature Yang-Mills theory, in particular the nontrivial behavior of bulk viscosity with temperature, have the potential to provide seemingly disparate ingredients of the standard cosmological model.

In this project, we solve the FRW equations using the known equation of state and conjectured bulk viscosity behavior of a Yang-Mills theory, with generic conformal symmetry breaking parameter and number of colors, to explore the viability of this scenario. In this short and informal talk we will introduce this model and discuss some technical difficulties faced during this preliminary phase of study.

[1] G. Torrieri and I. Mishustin, Phys. Rev. C 78, 021901 (2008) doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.78.021901 [arXiv:0805.0442 [hep-ph]].
[2] G. Torrieri, B. Tomasik and I. Mishustin, Phys. Rev. C 77, 034903 (2008) doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.77.034903 [arXiv:0707.4405 [nucl-th]].