Comments about the electromagnetic field in heavy-ion collisions

In this article we discuss the properties of electromagnetic fields in heavy-ion collisions and consequences for observables. We address quantitatively the issue of the magnetic field lifetime in a collision including the electric and chiral magnetic conductivities. We show that for reasonable parameters, the magnetic field created by spectators in a collision is not modified by the presence of matter. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.