Chromoelectric response functions for quark-gluon plasma

Abstract

We determine the chromoelectric response of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) systematically within the framework of classical transport equations. The transport equations are set up in the phase space which includes the SU(3) group space corresponding to color (which is a dynamical degree of freedom), in addition to the position - momentum variables. The distribution functions are defined by projecting the density operators for the quarks and the gluons to their respective coherent states (defined over the extended phase space). The full import of the Yang-Mills(YM) dynamics is shown to manifest through the emergence of an intrinsic nonlinear, nonlocal response, whose behavior we determine in the long wavelength limit. It also manifests as a tensor response which is a characteristic of gluons. The response functions are shown to have a natural interpretation in terms of the renormalizations of the Abelian and the non-Abelian coupling constants. A detailed analysis of the screening of heavy quark potential and of the exact role played by the Debye mass screening in the case of the Cornell potential, is performed. We also discuss the non-Abelian contribution to Landau damping in QGP.