Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2007 Annual Meeting of the Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 52, Number 10
Wednesday–Saturday, October 10–13, 2007; Newport News, Virginia
Session AA: Nuclear Theory: A Decade of Progress and Future Perspectives |
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Chair: Richard Milner, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Room: Newport News Marriott at City Center Grand Salon I/II |
Thursday, October 11, 2007 8:30AM - 8:40AM |
AA.00001: Introduction R. Milner
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Thursday, October 11, 2007 8:40AM - 9:16AM |
AA.00002: Exploring the partonic structure of the nucleon Invited Speaker: The QCD structure of the basic building blocks of matter, protons and neutrons, is best described by partons -- quarks and gluons -- in the infinite momentum frame of the composite nucleons. While momentum distributions of partons can be studied through perturbative QCD processes, their spatial distibutions have been probed through elastic form factors. A significant breakthrough in recent years has been the realization that partons can be probed in both spatial and momentum spaces simultaneously, resulting in tomographic pictures in quantum-phase space. In this talk, progress and prospects in estabilishing the partonic picture of the nucleon are discussed from both theoretical and experimental points of view. Discussions are also made about the origin of mass and the spin structure of the nucleon. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, October 11, 2007 9:16AM - 9:52AM |
AA.00003: QCD in Extreme Conditions Invited Speaker: Quantum Chromodynamics predicts that at some large temperature or density the strongly interacting matter transforms from the gas of observed hadrons into the plasma of quarks and gluons, ordinarily confined inside the hadrons. Since the inception of QCD the fundamental question of when and how this transformation is accomplished has been driving theoretical and then also experimental research. The phase diagram of QCD, the nature of the phases and the dynamics of QCD in the regime relevant to heavy ion collision experiments presents many challenges due to the nonperturbative character of QCD interactions. It is necessary to develop new theoretical ideas and tools to study these phenomena. I shall overview the past and present challenges, such as the nature and the location of the transition and of the critical point on the phase diagram, and how modern nuclear theory addresses them. I shall describe how recent experimental evidence points at a near-perfect fluidity of the matter created at RHIC, and how the theory meets the challenge of describing such a matter using time-tested techniques, such as numerical lattice calculations, as well as new analytical methods emerging from string theory. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, October 11, 2007 9:52AM - 10:28AM |
AA.00004: COFFEE BREAK
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Thursday, October 11, 2007 10:28AM - 11:04AM |
AA.00005: From Nuclei to Neutron Stars Invited Speaker: I will describe recent theoretical advances in nuclear structure and nuclear astrophysics that have been instrumental in unraveling the connections between nuclear physics and astrophysics. The role of nuclei, neutrino processes, and the states of matter at extreme density, in nucleosynthesis, supernova explosions and neutron star phenomena are not only known to be important, but we now understand specific correlations between the underlying nuclear physics and astrophysical observations. These developments are impacting and benefiting from both terrestrial nuclear experiments and astrophysical observations. I will discuss this interplay and explore how this synergy will help forge the path forward to develop a quantitative theory for dense systems, from nuclei to neutron stars. I highlight advances in describing strongly coupled many-body systems and discuss the emerging connections between nuclear structure, dense matter and cold-atom physics. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:04AM - 11:40AM |
AA.00006: Nuclear Theory and the New Standard Model. Invited Speaker: During the next decade, a program of experimental studies of neutrinos and fundamental symmetries in nuclear physics is poised to uncover key ingredients of the ``New Standard Model'' of fundamental interactions. Nuclear theory will play a vital role in interpreting the results of this program and elucidating their implications for the New Standard Model. In this talk, I discuss some of the important challenges for nuclear theory in this context, focusing on neutrinoless double beta-decay, electric dipole moments, and precision measurements of neutrino properties and electroweak processes. [Preview Abstract] |
Thursday, October 11, 2007 11:40AM - 12:16PM |
AA.00007: Future directions for nuclear theory Invited Speaker: Nuclear theory has reinvented itself over the past decade, creating new qualitative paradigms for matter under extreme conditions, while developing increasingly quantitative methods for determining the structure and interactions of hadrons in few- and many-body systems. The renaissance looks far from over, and with the advent of peta-scale computing, there will be opportunities for theorists to solve open questions in nuclear physics of ever greater complexity. I discuss some directions where progress in the near future looks particularly promising. [Preview Abstract] |
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