arXiv subjects

Thomas Schaefer

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Schaefer.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Hydrodynamic fluctuations and the minimum shear viscosity of the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity

We study hydrodynamic fluctuations in a non-relativistic fluid. We show that in three dimensions fluctuations lead to a minimum in the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $η/s$ as a function of the temperature. The minimum provides a bound on $η/s$ which is independent of the conjectured bound in string theory, $η/s \geq \hbar/(4πk_B)$, where $s$ is the entropy density. For the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity we find $η/s\gsim 0.2\hbar$. This bound is not universal -- it depends on thermodynamic properties of the unitary Fermi gas, and on empirical information about the range of validity of hydrodynamics. We also find that the viscous relaxation time of a hydrodynamic mode with frequency $ω$ diverges as $1/\sqrtω$, and that the shear viscosity in two dimensions diverges as $\log(1/ ω)$.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Quasiclassical molecular dynamics for the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity

We study the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity using molecular dynamics with an effective quantum potential constructed to reproduce the quantum two-body density matrix at unitarity. Results for the equation of state, the pair correlation function and the shear viscosity are presented. These quantities are well understood in the dilute, high temperature, limit. Using molecular dynamics we determine higher order corrections in the diluteness parameter $nλ^3$, where $n$ is the density and $λ$ is the thermal de Broglie wave length. In the case of the contact density, which parameterizes the short distance behavior of the correlation function, we find that the results of molecular dynamics interpolates between the truncated second and third order virial expansion, and are in excellent agreement with existing T-matrix calculations. For the shear viscosity we reproduce the expected scaling behavior at high temperature, $η\sim 1/λ^3$, and we determine the leading density dependent correction to this result.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Bulk viscosity, chemical equilibration and flow at RHIC

We study the effects of bulk viscosity on p_T spectra and elliptic flow in heavy ion collisions at RHIC. We argue that direct effect of the bulk viscosity on the evolution of the velocity field is small, but corrections to the freezeout distributions can be significant. These effects are dominated by chemical non-equilibration in the hadronic phase. We show that a non-zero bulk viscosity in the range $ζ/s \lsim 0.05$ improves the description of spectra and flow at RHIC.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2012

Continuity, Deconfinement, and (Super) Yang-Mills Theory

We study the phase diagram of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory with one adjoint Weyl fermion on R^3xS^1 as a function of the fermion mass m and the compactification scale L. This theory reduces to thermal pure gauge theory as m->infinity and to circle-compactified (non-thermal) supersymmetric gluodynamics in the limit m->0. In the m-L plane, there is a line of center symmetry changing phase transitions. In the limit m->infinity, this transition takes place at L_c=1/T_c, where T_c is the critical temperature of the deconfinement transition in pure Yang-Mills theory. We show that near m=0, the critical compactification scale L_c can be computed using semi-classical methods and that the transition is of second order. This suggests that the deconfining phase transition in pure Yang-Mills theory is continuously connected to a transition that can be studied at weak coupling. The center symmetry changing phase transition arises from the competition of perturbative contributions and monopole-instantons that destabilize the center, and topological molecules (neutral bions) that stabilize the center. The contribution of molecules can be computed using supersymmetry in the limit m=0, and via the Bogomolnyi--Zinn-Justin (BZJ) prescription in the non-supersymmetric gauge theory. Finally, we also give a detailed discussion of an issue that has not received proper attention in the context of N=1 theories---the non-cancellation of nonzero-mode determinants around supersymmetric BPS and KK monopole-instanton backgrounds on R^3xS^1. We explain why the non-cancellation is required for consistency with holomorphy and supersymmetry and perform an explicit calculation of the one-loop determinant ratio.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: Ultracold Quantum Gases, Quantum Chromodynamic Plasmas, and Holographic Duality

Strongly correlated quantum fluids are phases of matter that are intrinsically quantum mechanical, and that do not have a simple description in terms of weakly interacting quasi-particles. Two systems that have recently attracted a great deal of interest are the quark-gluon plasma, a plasma of strongly interacting quarks and gluons produced in relativistic heavy ion collisions, and ultracold atomic Fermi gases, very dilute clouds of atomic gases confined in optical or magnetic traps. These systems differ by more than 20 orders of magnitude in temperature, but they were shown to exhibit very similar hydrodynamic flow. In particular, both fluids exhibit a robustly low shear viscosity to entropy density ratio which is characteristic of quantum fluids described by holographic duality, a mapping from strongly correlated quantum field theories to weakly curved higher dimensional classical gravity. This review explores the connection between these fields, and it also serves as an introduction to the Focus Issue of New Journal of Physics on Strongly Correlated Quantum Fluids: from Ultracold Quantum Gases to QCD Plasmas. The presentation is made accessible to the general physics reader and includes discussions of the latest research developments in all three areas.

hep-th↗

arXiv2012

Shear viscosity and damping of collective modes in a two-dimensional Fermi gas

We compute the shear viscosity of a two dimensional Fermi gas interacting via a short range potential with scattering length $a_{2d}$ in kinetic theory. We find that kinetic theory predicts that the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio of a strongly interacting two dimensional gas is comparable to that of the three dimensional unitary gas. We use our results to compute the damping of collective modes in a trapped Fermi gas, and compare to experimental data recently obtained in E. Vogt et al., arXiv:1111.1173.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2012

Bulk viscosity, particle spectra and flow in heavy-ion collisions

We study the effects of bulk viscosity on pT spectra and elliptic flow in heavy ion collisions. For this purpose we compute the dissipative correction df to the single particle distribution functions in leading-log QCD, and in several simplified models. We consider, in particular, the relaxation time approximation and a kinetic model for the hadron resonance gas. We implement these distribution functions in a hydrodynamic simulation of Au + Au collisions at RHIC. We find significant corrections due to bulk viscosity in hadron pT spectra and the differential elliptic flow parameter v2(pT). These corrections are dominated by viscous corrections to the distribution function. We find that the relation between df and the bulk viscosity is different in the quark gluon plasma and hadronic phases. Reliable bounds on the bulk viscosity require accurate calculations of df in a hadronic resonance gas. Based on v2 spectra at RHIC we conservatively estimate zeta/s <= 0.05 near freeze-out. We also find that effects of the bulk viscosity on the pT integrated v2 are small.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Nearly Perfect Fluidity in the Dilute Fermi Gas: An Update

In this contribution we summarize recent results on the transport properties of strongly correlated dilute Fermi gases. We discuss the hydrodynamic equations in the normal phase and present new results on the structure of second order terms in the gradient expansion. We also discuss predictions from kinetic theory, and show how these predictions can be tested using experimental data on elliptic flow. We summarize current constraints on the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $η/s$.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2011

Conformal symmetry and non-relativistic second order fluid dynamics

We study the constraints imposed by conformal symmetry on the equations of fluid dynamics at second order in gradients of the hydrodynamic variables. At zeroth order conformal symmetry implies a constraint on the equation of state, E=2/3 P, where E is the energy density and P is the pressure. At first order, conformal symmetry implies that the bulk viscosity must vanish. We show that at second order conformal invariance requires that two-derivative terms in the stress tensor must be traceless, and that it determines the relaxation of dissipative stresses to the Navier-Stokes form. We verify these results by solving the Boltzmann equation at second order in the gradient expansion. We find that only a subset of the terms allowed by conformal symmetry appear.

hep-th↗

arXiv2011

Elliptic flow of the dilute Fermi gas: From kinetics to hydrodynamics

We use the Boltzmann equation in the relaxation time approximation to study the expansion of a dilute Fermi gas at unitarity. We focus, in particular, on the approach to the hydrodynamic limit. Our main finding are: i) In the regime that has been studied experimentally hydrodynamic effects beyond the Navier-Stokes approximation are small, ii) mean field corrections to the Boltzmann equation are not important, iii) experimental data imply that freezeout occurs very late, that means that the relaxation time remains smaller than the expansion time during the entire evolution of the system, iv) the experimental results also imply that the bulk viscosity is significantly smaller than the shear viscosity of the system.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2010

Elliptic flow and nearly perfect fluidity in dilute Fermi gases

In this contribution we summarize recent progress in understanding the shear viscosity of strongly correlated dilute Fermi gases. We discuss predictions from kinetic theory, and show how these predictions can be tested using recent experimental data on elliptic flow. We find agreement between theory and experiments in the high temperature regime $T\gg T_F$, where $T_F$ is the the temperature where quantum degeneracy effects become important. In the low temperature regime, $T\sim T_F$, the strongest constraints on the shear viscosity come from experimental studies of the damping of collective modes. These experiments indicate that $η/s\lsim 0.5\hbar/k_B$, where $η$ is the shear viscosity and $s$ is the entropy density.

nucl-th↗

arXiv2010

Thermal Conductivity and Sound Attenuation in Dilute Atomic Fermi Gases

We compute the thermal conductivity and sound attenuation length of a dilute atomic Fermi gas in the framework of kinetic theory. Above the critical temperature for superfluidity, T_c, the quasi-particles are fermions, whereas below T_c, the dominant excitations are phonons. We calculate the thermal conductivity in both cases. We find that at unitarity the thermal conductivity κin the normal phase scales as κ~ T^{3/2}. In the superfluid phase we find κ~ T^{2}. At high temperature the Prandtl number, the ratio of the momentum and thermal diffusion constants, is 2/3. The ratio increases as the temperature is lowered. As a consequence we expect sound attenuation in the normal phase just above T_c to be dominated by shear viscosity. We comment on the possibility of extracting the shear viscosity of the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity using measurements of the sound absorption length.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Scaling Flows and Dissipation in the Dilute Fermi Gas at Unitarity

We describe recent attempts to extract the shear viscosity of the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity from experiments involving scaling flows. A scaling flow is a solution of the hydrodynamic equations that preserves the shape of the density distribution. The scaling flows that have been explored in the laboratory are the transverse expansion from a deformed trap ("elliptic flow"), the expansion from a rotating trap, and collective oscillations. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different experiments, and point to improvements of the theoretical analysis that are needed in order to achieve definitive results. A conservative bound based on the current data is that the minimum of the shear viscosity to entropy density ration is that eta/s is less or equal to 0.5 hbar/k_B.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Dissipative fluid dynamics for the dilute Fermi gas at unitarity: Free expansion and rotation

We investigate the expansion dynamics of a dilute Fermi gas at unitarity in the context of dissipative fluid dynamics. Our aim is to quantify the effects of shear viscosity on the time evolution of the system. We compare exact numerical solutions of the equations of viscous hydrodynamics to various approximations that have been proposed in the literature. Our main findings are: i) Shear viscosity leads to characteristic features in the expansion dynamics; ii) a quantitative description of these effects has to include reheating; iii) dissipative effects are not sensitive to the equation of state P(n,T) as long as the universal relation P=(2/3)E is satisfied; iv) the expansion dynamics mainly constrains the cloud average of the shear viscosity.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2010

Phase Structure and Transport Properties of Dense Quark Matter

We provide a summary of our current knowledge of the phase structure of very dense quark matter. We concentrate on the question how the ground state at asymptotically high density -- color-flavor-locked (CFL) matter -- is modified as the density is lowered. We discuss the nature of the quasi-particle excitations, and present work on the transport properties of dense QCD matter.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2009

Thermal conductivity of color-flavor locked quark matter

We compute the thermal conductivity of color-flavor locked (CFL) quark matter. At temperatures below the scale set by the gap in the quark spectrum, transport properties are determined by collective modes. In this work we focus on the contribution from the lightest modes, the superfluid phonon and the massive neutral kaon. The calculation is done in the framework of kinetic theory, using variational solutions of the linearized Boltzmann equation. We find that the thermal conductivity due to phonons is κ^P =1.04 10^{26} mu_{500}^8 Δ_{50}^{-6} erg/(cm s K), where μ_{500} is the chemical potential in units of 500 MeV and Δ_{50} is the gap in units of 50 MeV. The contribution of kaons is κ^K = 2.81 10^{21} f_{π,100}^4 T_{MeV}^{1/2} m_{10}^{-5/2} erg/(cm s K), where f_{π,100} is the pion decay constant in units of 100 MeV, T_{MeV} is the temperature in units of 1 MeV, and m_{10} is the kaon mass in units of 10 MeV. These values are smaller than previous estimates, but still much larger than (in the case of phonons) or similar to (for kaons) the corresponding values in nuclear matter. From the phonon thermal conductivity we estimate that a CFL quark matter core of a compact star becomes isothermal on a timescale of a few seconds.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

Nearly Perfect Fluidity: From Cold Atomic Gases to Hot Quark Gluon Plasmas

Shear viscosity is a measure of the amount of dissipation in a simple fluid. In kinetic theory shear viscosity is related to the rate of momentum transport by quasi-particles, and the uncertainty relation suggests that the ratio of shear viscosity eta to entropy density s in units of hbar/k_B is bounded by a constant. Here, hbar is Planck's constant and k_B is Boltzmann's constant. A specific bound has been proposed on the basis of string theory where, for a large class of theories, one can show that eta/s is greater or equal to hbar/(4 pi k_B). We will refer to a fluid that saturates the string theory bound as a perfect fluid. In this review we summarize theoretical and experimental information on the properties of the three main classes of quantum fluids that are known to have values of eta/s that are smaller than hbar/k_B. These fluids are strongly coupled Bose fluids, in particular liquid helium, strongly correlated ultracold Fermi gases, and the quark gluon plasma. We discuss the main theoretical approaches to transport properties of these fluids: kinetic theory, numerical simulations based on linear response theory, and holographic dualities. We also summarize the experimental situation, in particular with regard to the observation of hydrodynamic behavior in ultracold Fermi gases and the quark gluon plasma.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2009

In search of the perfect fluid

Shear viscosity measures the amount of internal friction in a simple fluid. In kinetic theory shear viscosity is related to momentum transport by quasi-particles, and the uncertainty relation implies that the ratio of shear viscosity eta to entropy density s is bounded by a constant multiplied by hbar/k_B, where hbar is Planck's constant and k_B is Boltzmann's constant. A specific bound has been proposed on the basis of string theory. In a large class of theories that can be studied using string theory methods the constant is 1/(4π). Experiments at RHIC indicate that eta/s of the quark gluon plasma is close to this prediction. We will refer to a fluid that saturates the string theory bound as a perfect fluid. In this contribution we summarizes the theoretical and experimental information on the fluidity of the main classes of strongly interacting quantum fluids.

physics.flu-dyn↗