The monograph presents a comparative analysis of different thermodynamic models of the equations of state. The basic ideological premises of the theoretical methods and the experiment are considered. The principal attention is on the description of states that are of greatest interest for the physics of high energy concentrations which are either already attained or can be reached in the near future in controlled terrestrial conditions, or are realized in astrophysical objects at different stages of their evolution. Ultra-extreme astrophysical and nuclear-physical applications are also analyzed where the thermodynamics of matter is affected substantially by relativism, high-power gravitational and magnetic fields, thermal radiation, transformation of nuclear particles, nucleon neutronization, and quark deconfinement. The book is intended for a wide range of specialists engaged in the study of the equations of state of matter and high energy density physics, as well as for senior students and postgraduates.

This book focuses on the non-traditional branches of physics and mechanics of shock waves that have arisen recently in connection with the intensive study of these waves in a wide variety of phenomena - from nuclear matter to clusters of galaxies. The book is devoted to the various physical phenomena and properties of intense shock waves. The author addresses methods of generation, diagnostics, as well as theoretical methods for describing shock waves at extremely high pressures and temperatures in laboratory and quasi-laboratory conditions. The state of materials with high energy density generated by shock wave compression is discussed. In addition, the book aims to systematize, generalize, and describe from a universal viewpoint the extensive theoretical and experimental material on the physics of high energy densities - the physics and mechanics of intense shock waves. The book is based on lectures delivered by the author at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Higher School of Physics of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation, as well as overviews presented at many scientific conferences and symposia. It is useful to a wide range of researchers in natural sciences, giving them access to original works and allowing them to navigate the fascinating problems of the modern science of intense shock waves.

This book is a course-tested primer on the thermodynamics of strongly interacting matter – a profound and challenging area of both theoretical and experimental modern physics. Analytical and numerical studies of statistical quantum chromodynamics provide the main theoretical tool, while in experiments, high-energy nuclear collisions are the key for extensive laboratory investigations. As such, the field straddles statistical, particle and nuclear physics, both conceptually and in the methods of investigation used. The book addresses, above all, the many young scientists starting their scientific research in this field, providing them with a general, self-contained introduction that highlights the basic concepts and ideas and explains why we do what we do. Much of the book focuses on equilibrium thermodynamics: first it presents simplified phenomenological pictures, leading to critical behavior in hadronic matter and to a quark-hadron phase transition. This is followed by elements of finite temperature lattice QCD and an exposition of the important results obtained through the computer simulation of the lattice formulation. It goes on to clarify the relationship between the resulting critical behavior due to symmetry breaking/restoration in QCD, before turning to the QCD phase diagram. The presentation of bulk equilibrium thermodyamics is completed by studying the properties of the quark-gluon plasma as a new state of strongly interacting matter. The final chapters of the book are devoted to more specific topics that arise when nuclear collisions are considered as a tool for the experimental study of QCD thermodynamics. This second edition includes a new chapter on the hydrodynamic evolution of the medium produced in nuclear collisions. Since the study of flow for strongly interacting fluids has gained ever-increasing importance over the years, it is dealt with it in some detail, including comments on gauge/gravity duality. Moreover, other aspects of experimental studies are brought up to date, such as the search for critical behavior in multihadron production, the calibration of quarkonium production in nuclear collisions, and the relation between strangeness suppression and deconfinement.

Based on the authors’ successful theory for extended irreversible thermodynamics, the book analyzes the thermodynamic aspects of several phenomena induced by the flow in fluid systems.

This is the second edition of the book “Thermodynamics of Fluids under Flow,” which was published in 2000 and has now been corrected, expanded and updated. This is a companion book to our other title Extended irreversible thermodynamics (D. Jou, J. Casas-Vázquez and G. Lebon, Springer, 4th edition 2010), and of the textbook Understanding non-equilibrium thermodynamics (G. Lebon, D. Jou and J. Casas-Vázquez, Springer, 2008. The present book is more specialized than its counterpart, as it focuses its attention on the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of flowing fluids, incorporating non-trivial thermodynamic contributions of the flow, going beyond local equilibrium theories, i.e., including the effects of internal variables and of external forcing due to the flow. Whereas the book's first edition was much more focused on polymer solutions, with brief glimpses into ideal and real gases, the present edition covers a much wider variety of systems, such as: diluted and concentrated polymer solutions, polymer blends, laminar and turbulent superfluids, phonon hydrodynamics and heat transport in nanosystems, nuclear collisions, far-from-equilibrium ideal gases, and molecular solutions. It also deals with a variety of situations, emphasizing the non-equilibrium flow contribution: temperature and entropy in flowing ideal gases, shear-induced effects on phase transitions in real gases and on polymer solutions, stress-induced migration and its application to flow chromatography, Taylor dispersion, anomalous diffusion in flowing systems, the influence of the flow on chemical reactions, and polymer degradation. The new edition is not only broader in scope, but more educational in character, and with more emphasis on applications, in keeping with our times. It provides many examples of how a deeper theoretical understanding may bring new and more efficient applications, forging links between theoretical progress and practical aims. This updated version expands on the trusted content of its predecessor, making it more interesting and useful for a larger audience.

This authoritative text offers a complete overview on the statistical mechanics and electrodynamics of physical processes in dense plasma systems. The author emphasizes laboratory-based experiments and astrophysical observations of plasma phenomena, elucidated through the fundamentals. The coverage encompasses relevant condensed matter physics, atomic physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics, including such key topics as phase transitions, transport, optical and nuclear processes. This essential resource also addresses exciting, cutting edge topics in the field, including metallic hydrogen, stellar and planetary magnetisms, pycnonuclear reactions, and gravitational waves. Scientists, researchers, and students in plasma physics, condensed matter physics, materials science, atomic physics, nuclear physics, and astrophysics will benefit from this work. Setsuo Ichimaru is a distinguished professor at the University of Tokyo, and has been a visiting member at The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), the Institute for Theoretical Physics at Johannes Kepler University, and the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics. He is a recipient of the Subramanyan Chandrasekhar Prize of Plasma Physics from the Association of Asia-Pacific Physical Societies and the Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

This book offers an introduction to the booming field of high-power laser-matter interaction. It covers the heating of matter to super-high temperatures and pressures, novel schemes of fast particle acceleration, matter far from thermal equilibrium, stimulated radiation scattering, relativistic optics, strong field QED, as well as relevant applications, such as extreme states of matter, controlled fusion, and novel radiation sources. All models and methods considered are introduced as they arise and illustrated by relevant examples. Each chapter contains a selection of problems to test the reader's understanding, to apply the models under discussion to relevant situations and to discover their limits of validity. The carefully chosen illustrations greatly facilitate the visualization of physical processes as well as presenting detailed numerical results. A list of useful formulas and tables are provided as a guide to quantifying results from experiments and numerical simulations. Each chapter ends with a description of the state of the art and the current research frontiers.

This third book on Quark-Gluon plasma and heavy ion collisions follows the previous ones, published in 1988 and 2005, that described theoretical proposals for a large program, and then the QGP discovery at RHIC.The present one describes the rather mature field, with extensive program at RHIC and LHC colliders and corresponding theory. QGP turns out to be a strongly coupled medium made up of quarks and gluons, existing in exploding fireballs. It is the hottest form of matter created in a laboratory. Other subjects discussed in the book are QCD vacuum structure, including topological solitons and nonperturbative phenomena. It also includes some recent progress in theory of hadrons, bridging hadronic spectroscopy with partonic observables.

The aim of this book is to offer to the next generation of young researchers a broad and largely self-contained introduction to the physics of heavy ion collisions and the quark-gluon plasma, providing material beyond that normally found in the available textbooks. For each of the main aspects - QCD thermodynamics and global features of the QGP, collision hydrodynamics, electromagnetic probes, jet and quarkonium production, color glass condensate, and the gravity connection - the present volume provides extensive and pedagogical lectures, surveying the present status of both theory and experiment. A particular feature of this volume is that all lectures have been written with the active assistance of selected students present at the course in order to ensure the adequate level and coverage for the intended readership.

Quark-Gluon Plasma introduces the primordial matter, composed of two types of elementary particles, created at the time of the Big Bang. During the evolution of the universe, Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) undergoes a transition to hadronic matter governed by quantum chromodynamics, the law of strong interactions. After an introduction to gauge theories, various aspects of quantum chromodynamic phase transitions are illustrated in a self-contained manner. The cosmological approach and renormalization group are discussed, as well as the cosmological and astrophysical implications of QGP, on the basis of Einstein's equations. Recent developments towards the formation of QGP in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions are also presented in detail. This text is suitable as an introduction for graduate students, as well as providing a valuable reference for researchers already working in this and related fields. It includes eight appendices and over a hundred exercises.