Theory of Quarkonia as Probes for Deconfinement

TL;DR

The paper surveys theoretical progress on using quarkonium as a deconfinement probe in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, spanning melting scenarios, lattice screening, transport dynamics, and open quantum system approaches. It highlights how the chromoelectric correlator $[g_{adj}^{++}]^>(t)$ captures a unique QGP property accessible through quarkonium in the dipole limit and shows how EFTs and lattice inputs unify disparate dynamical pictures. The synthesis shows that combining rate equations, Boltzmann dynamics, and Lindblad-type evolution can describe $R_{AA}$, $v_2$, and other observables across collision systems, while pointed measurements of states like $B_c$ and careful pp studies can test factorization and environment effects. This framework advances a coherent, testable understanding of deconfinement physics with direct implications for interpreting heavy-ion data and guiding future experiments.

Abstract

This is a plenary talk given at Quark Matter 2025, summarizing recent theoretical developments for the understanding of quarkonium production in relativistic heavy ion collisions and how quarkonium uniquely probes the deconfined phase of QCD matter.