Solving the QCD effective kinetic theory with neural networks

Abstract

Event-by-event QCD kinetic theory simulations are hindered by the large numerical cost of evaluating the high-dimensional collision integral in the Boltzmann equation. In this work, we show that a neural network can be used to obtain an accurate estimate of the collision integral in a fraction of the time required for the ordinary Monte Carlo evaluation of the integral. We demonstrate that for isotropic and anisotropic distribution functions, the network accurately predicts the time evolution of the distribution function, which we verify by performing traditional evaluations of the collision integral and comparing several moments of the distribution function. This work sets the stage for an event-by-event modeling of the pre-equilibrium initial stages in heavy-ion collisions.