Title: Equilibration and hydrodynamics at strong and weak coupling

Abstract

We give an updated overview of both weak and strong coupling methods to describe the approach to a plasma described by viscous hydrodynamics, a process now called hydrodynamisation. At weak coupling the very first moments after a heavy ion collision is described by the colour-glass condensate framework, but quickly thereafter the mean free path is long enough for kinetic theory to become applicable. Recent simulations indicate thermalization in a time t ~ 40 (η/s)^4/3/T, with $$\tau$$ the temperature at that time and η/s the shear viscosity divided by the entropy density. At (infinitely) strong coupling it is possible to mimic heavy ion collisions by using holography, which leads to a dual description of colliding gravitational shock waves. The plasma formed hydrodynamises within a time of 0.41/$$\tau$$ recent extension found corrections to this result for finite values of the coupling, when is bigger than the canonical value of 1/4$$\pi$$, which leads to t ~ (.41+1.6(η/s-1/4$$\pi$$))/T. Moreover, future improvements include the inclusion of the effects of the running coupling constant in QCD.

Authors:

van der Schee, Wilke ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Univ. of Utrecht, Utrecht (Netherlands)

Publication Date:

Mon Sep 25 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Research Org.:

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC)

OSTI Identifier:

1500558

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0011090

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Nuclear Physics. A

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 967; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0375-9474

Publisher:

Elsevier

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; hydrodynamisation; holography