We show that fluctuating proton positions in the colliding nuclei generate, on the event-by-event basis, very strong magnetic and electric fields in the direction both parallel and perpendicular to the reaction plane. The magnitude of E and B fields in each event is of the order of m 2 π ≈ 10 18 Gauss. Implications on the observation of electric dipole in heavy ion collisions is discussed, and the possibility of measuring the electric conductivity of the hot medium is pointed out.

We review the present status of the search for a phase transition and critical point as well as anomalous transport phenomena in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), with an emphasis on the Beam Energy Scan program at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. We present the conceptual framework and discuss the observables deemed most sensitive to a phase transition, QCD critical point, and anomalous transport, focusing on fluctuation and correlation measurements. Selected experimental results for these observables together with those characterizing the global properties of the systems created in heavy ion collisions are presented. We then discuss what can be already learned from the currently available data about the QCD critical point and anomalous transport as well as what additional measurements and theoretical developments are needed in order to discover these phenomena.

We apply the successful Monte Carlo Glauber and IP-Glasma initial state models of heavy ion collisions to the much smaller size systems produced in proton-proton, proton-nucleus and deuteronnucleus collisions. We observe a significantly greater sensitivity of the initial state geometry to details of multi-particle production in these models compared to nucleus-nucleus collisions. In particular, we find that the size of the system produced in p+A collisions is very similar to the one produced in p+p collisions, and predict comparable Hanbury-Brown-Twiss radii in the absence of flow in both systems. Differences in the eccentricities computed in the models are large, while differences amongst the generated flow coefficients v2 and v3 are smaller. For a large number of participants in proton-lead collisions, the v2 generated in the IP-Glasma model is comparable to the value obtained in proton-proton collisions. Viscous corrections to flow are large over characteristic lifetimes in the smaller size systems. In contrast, viscous contributions are significantly diminished over the longer space-time evolution of a heavy ion collision.