Do Proton$$+$$Proton Collisions at the LHC Energies Produce Droplets of Quark-Gluon Plasma?

Abstract

The proton-proton (pp) collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN, Switzerland has brought up new challenges and opportunities in understanding the experimental findings in contrast to the conventional lower energy pp collisions. Usually pp collisions are used as the baseline measurement at the GeV and TeV energies in order to understand a possible high density QCD medium formation in heavy-ion collisions. However, the TeV pp collisions have created a new domain of research, where scientists have started observing heavy-ion-like features (signatures) in high-multiplicity pp collisions. This warrants a relook into TeV pp collisions, if at all QGP-droplets are produced in such collisions. In this presentation, I discuss some of the new findings and concepts emerging out in pp collisions at the LHC energies along with some of the new emergent phenomena in particle production.