Session HB: Chirality and Vorticity in the Quark Gluon Plasma

An Introduction to the Theory of the Chiral Magnetic Effect

Anomalous chiral transport processes, with the notable example of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME), are remarkable phenomena that manifest microscopic quantum anomaly of chiral fermions in a macroscopic many-body setting. Significant progress has been achieved both in their theoretical understanding and in their experimental search. In this talk, an elementary introduction will be given for the CME as well as other anomalous chiral effects such as the Chiral Magnetic Wave (CMW) and the vorticity-driven effects. The theoretical foundation for describing them is rapidly emerging, including the anomalous hydrodynamics framework for (nearly) equilibrated systems while the chiral kinetic theory for out-of-equilibrium systems. The most recent results along these lines will be highlighted, with an emphasis on their applications to heavy ion collision experiments. Finally the currently pressing issues and anticipated future developments, in the context of recently formed Beam Energy Scan Theory (BEST) Collaboration, will be envisioned. Ref: Kharzeev, Liao, Voloshin, Wang, Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. 88(2016)1, [arXiv:1511.04050[hep-ph]].   

Present and Future Studies of the Chiral Magnetic Effect at RHIC and the LHC.

The Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is the generation of electric current induced by local chirality-imbalance in the presence of magnetic field. The heavy ion collisions provide an ideal environment for CME --- as a hot quark-gluon plasma is created with chirality imbalance from gluons topologic fluctuations, and strong magnetic fields is generated in non head-on collisions. In this talk, I will review the current progress of experimental studies of CME and its related phenomena at both RHIC and the LHC. I will also discuss future plans and possibilities.   

Chiral Magnetic Effect in Condensed Matters

The chiral magnetic effect (CME) is the generation of electrical current induced by chirality imbalance in the presence of magnetic field. It is a macroscopic manifestation of the quantum chiral anomaly in systems possessing charged chiral fermions. In quark-gluon plasma containing nearly massless quarks, the chirality imbalance is sourced by the topological transitions. In condensed matter systems, the chiral quasiparticles emerge in the so-called Dirac and Weyl semimetals having a linear dispersion relation. Recently, CME was discovered first in a 3D Dirac semimetal ZrTe$_{\mathrm{5}}$ [Li, Kharzeev, et al arXiv:1412.6543, Nature Physics (2016) doi:10.1038/nphys3648)]. It is now observed in more than half a dozen Dirac and Weyl semimetals. 3D Dirac/Wyl semimetals have opened a fascinating possibility to study the quantum dynamics of relativistic field theory in condensed matter experiments, with potential for important practical applications.