Strong coupling isotropization of non-Abelian plasmas simplified

2012/02/29 by Michal P. Heller, David Mateos, Wilke van der Schee +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-th #gr-qc #hep-ph #nucl-th

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.108.191601

published as Phys.Rev.Lett. 108 (2012) 191601 · 4 pages, 4 figures; v2: minor changes, matches PRL version

arxiv created 2012/05/21 · arxiv updated 2012/05/22

Abstract

We study the isotropization of a homogeneous, strongly coupled, non-Abelian plasma by means of its gravity dual. We compare the time evolution of a large number of initially anisotropic states as determined, on the one hand, by the full non-linear Einstein's equations and, on the other, by the Einstein's equations linearized around the final equilibrium state. The linear approximation works remarkably well even for states that exhibit large anisotropies. For example, it predicts with a 20% accuracy the isotropization time, which is of the order of t_iso \lesssim 1/T, with T the final equilibrium temperature. We comment on possible extensions to less symmetric situations.

Cited by

• Jet energy loss in anisotropic plasmas meets limiting attractors
• Holographic isotropization linearized

Related

• Investigating thermalization of a strongly interacting non-Abelian plasma
• Homogeneous isotropization and equilibration of a strongly coupled plasma with a critical point
• Observables in Strongly Coupled Anisotropic Theories
• Thermalization of a boost-invariant non-Abelian plasma: Holographic approach with boundary sourcing
• Shear transport in far-from-equilibrium isotropization of supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma