2009/05/14 by Derek A. Teaney, DEREK A. TEANEY · 75 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysical Phenomena and Observations #Elliptic flow #Entropy (arrow of time) #High-Energy Particle Collisions Research #Kinetic energy #Kinetic theory #Plasma #Quantum Chromodynamics and Particle Interactions #Quantum chromodynamics #Quark–gluon plasma #Viscosity #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1142/9789814293297_0004
published in WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks, 207-266 (World Scientific) · Prepared for QGP4
arxiv created 2009/05/14 · openalex publication_date 2010/02/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · arxiv updated 2016/12/21 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
One of the most striking results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is the strong elliptic flow. This review summarizes what is observed and how these results are combined with reasonable theoretical assumptions to estimate the shear viscosity of QCD near the phase transition. A data comparison with viscous hydrodynamics and kinetic theory calculations indicates that the shear viscosity to entropy ratio is surprisingly small, η/s < 0.4. The preferred range is η/s ≃ (1↔ 3) × 1/4π.