2010/03/31 by Scott Pratt, Giorgio Torrieri · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevc.82.044901
published as Phys.Rev.C82:044901,2010 · publication version (minor changes to wording, references added, typos fixed)
arxiv created 2010/10/05 · arxiv updated 2010/10/27
Models of relativistic heavy ion collisions typically involve both a hydrodynamic module to describe the high density liquid-like phase and a Boltzmann module to simulate the low density break-up phase which is gas-like. Coupling the prescriptions is more complicated for viscous prescriptions if one wants to maintain continuity of the entire stress-energy tensor and currents. Derivations for the viscosity for a gas are reviewed, which then lead to expressions for changes in the phase space occupation based on simple relaxation-time pictures of viscosity. These expressions are shown to consistently reproduce the non-equilibrium components of the stress-energy tensor. An algorithm for generating a Monte Carlo sampling of particles with which to initiate the Boltzmann calculations is also presented.