Starting with a brief introduction into the basics of relativistic fluid dynamics, I discuss our current knowledge of a relativistic theory of fluid dynamics in the presence of (mostly shear) viscosity. Derivations based on the generalized second law of thermodynamics, kinetic theory, and a complete second-order gradient expansion are reviewed. The resulting fluid dynamic equations are shown to be consistent for all these derivations, when properly accounting for the respective region of applicability, and can be applied to both weakly and strongly coupled systems. In its modern formulation, relativistic viscous hydrodynamics can directly be solved numerically. This has been useful for the problem of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions, and I will review the setup and results of a hydrodynamic description of experimental data for this case.
This is a comment to hep-th/0703243. The paper determined the relaxation time tau_pi of the shear viscous stress for the N=4 SYM from AdS/CFT correspondence. The purpose of this comment is to point out that the value of tau_pi is 3 times larger than their result if one takes into account an additional term in the hydrodynamic equation.
The charged-particle's final state spectrum is derived from an analytic perturbative solution for the relativistic viscous hydrodynamics. By taking into account the longitudinal acceleration effect in relativistic viscous hydrodynamics, the pseudorapidity spectrum describes well the nucleus-nucleus colliding systems at RHIC and LHC. Based on both the extracted longitudinal acceleration parameters $λ^{*}$ and a phenomenological description of the $λ^{*}$, the charged-particle's pseudorapidity distributions for $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.44 TeV Xe+Xe collisions are computed from the final state express…
We report part of our recent work on viscous hydrodynamics with consistent phase space distribution $f(x,\p)$ for freeze out. We develop the gradient expansion formalism based on kinetic theory, and with the constraints from the comparison between hydrodynamics and kinetic theory, viscous corrections to $f(x,\p)$ can be consistently determined order by order. Then with the obtained $f(x,\p)$, second order viscous hydrodynamical calculations are carried out for elliptic flow $v_2$.
We exactly solve the one-dimensional boost-invariant Boltzmann equation in the relaxation time approximation for arbitrary shear viscosity. The results are compared with the predictions of viscous and anisotropic hydrodynamics. Studying different non-equilibrium cases and comparing the exact kinetic-theory results to the second-order viscous hydrodynamics results we find that recent formulations of second-order viscous hydrodynamics agree better with the exact solution than the standard Israel-Stewart approach. Additionally, we find that, given the appropriate connection between the kinetic an…
We show that by requiring positivity of the longitudinal pressure it is possible to constrain the initial conditions one can use in 2nd-order viscous hydrodynamical simulations of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. We demonstrate this explicitly for 0+1 dimensional viscous hydrodynamics and discuss how the constraint extends to higher dimensions. Additionally, we present an analytic approximation to the solution of 0+1 dimensional 2nd-order viscous hydrodynamical evolution equations appropriate to describe the evolution of matter in an ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collision.
The nonequilibrium evolution in a boost-invariant Bjorken flow of a hybrid viscous fluid model containing two interacting components with different viscosities, such that they represent strongly and weakly self-coupled sectors, is shown to be characterized by a hydrodynamic attractor which has an early-time behavior that is reminiscent of the so-called bottom-up thermalization scenario in heavy-ion collisions. The hydrodynamization times for the two sectors can differ strongly, with details depending on the curve realized on the two-dimensional attractor surface, which might account for differ…
We present a first calculation of the dilepton yield and elliptic flow done with 3+1D viscous hydrodynamical simulations of relativistic heavy ion collisions at the top RHIC energy. A comparison with recent experimental data from the STAR collaboration is made.
We consider second-order viscous hydrodynamics in conformal field theories at finite temperature. We show that conformal invariance imposes powerful constraints on the form of the second-order corrections. By matching to the AdS/CFT calculations of correlators, and to recent results for Bjorken flow obtained by Heller and Janik, we find three (out of five) second-order transport coefficients in the strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. We also discuss how these new coefficents can arise within the kinetic theory of weakly coupled conformal plasmas. We point out that the Muelle…
The Quark Gluon Plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions has three relevant conserved charges: baryon number (B), strangeness (S), and electric charge (Q). Here we derive the Israel-Stewart framework for BSQ diffusion coupled to shear and bulk viscosity and the thermodynamic derivatives needed to couple this to a BSQ equation of state. We reproduce a subset of the ${\mathcal{J}}$ terms in the DNMR approach and propose a technique to derive other terms from the maximum entropy principle. Finally, we preform a stability analysis that can be used to constraint transport coefficients in BSQ hydrody…
Hydrodynamic model simulations of Au-Au collisions at RHIC have indicated recently, that with improved simulations in the coming years, it may be feasible to quantify the viscosity of the matter produced in heavy ion collisions. To this end, a consistent fluid dynamic description of viscous effects is clearly needed. In this note, we observe that a recently used, approximate form of the 2nd order Israel-Stewart viscous hydrodynamic equations of motion cannot account consistently for the transverse flow fields, which are expected to develop in heavy ion collisions. We identify the appropriate e…
The second-order hydrodynamic equations for evolution of shear and bulk viscous pressure have been derived within the framework of covariant kinetic theory based on the effective fugacity quasiparticle model. The temperature-dependent fugacity parameter in the equilibrium distribution function leads to a mean field term in the Boltzmann equation which affects the interactions in the hot QCD matter. The viscous corrections to distribution function, up to second-order in gradient expansion, have been obtained by employing a Chapman-Enskog like iterative solution of the effective Boltzmann equati…
We present the derivation of second-order relativistic viscous hydrodynamics from an effective Boltzmann equation for a system consisting of quasiparticles of a single species. We consider temperature-dependent masses of the quasiparticles and devise a thermodynamically-consistent framework to formulate second-order evolution equations for shear and bulk viscous pressure corrections. The main advantage of this formulation is that one can consistently implement realistic equation of state of the medium within the framework of kinetic theory. Specializing to the case of one-dimensional purely-lo…
We generalize the derivation of viscous anisotropic hydrodynamics from kinetic theory to allow for non-zero particle masses. The macroscopic theory is obtained by taking moments of the Boltzmann equation after expanding the distribution function around a spheroidally deformed local momentum distribution whose form has been generalized by the addition of a scalar field that accounts non-perturbatively (i.e. already at leading order) for bulk viscous effects. Hydrodynamic equations for the parameters of the leading-order distribution function and for the residual (next-to-leading order) dissipat…
Using ideal and viscous hydrodynamics, the ratio of azimuthal moments v4/(v2)^2 is calculated for pions, protons, and kaons in sqrt{s}=200 A*GeV Au+Au collisions. For any value of viscosity here is little dependence on particle species. Ideal hydrodynamics and data show a flat curve as a function of pt. Adding viscosity in the standard way destroys this flatness. However, it can be restored by replacing the standard quadratic ansatz for delta f (the viscous correction to the distribution function at freeze-out) with a weaker momentum dependence.
We study causal viscous hydrodynamics in the context of central relativistic heavy-ion collisions and provide details of a straightforward numerical algorithm to solve the hydrodynamic equations. It is shown that correlation functions of fluctuations provide stringent test cases for any such numerical algorithm. Passing these tests, we study the effects of viscosity on the temperature profile in central heavy-ion collisions. Also, we find that it is possible to counter-act the effects of viscosity to some extent by re-adjusting the initial conditions. However, viscous corrections are strongest…
We consider an expanding boost-invariant plasma at strong coupling using the AdS/CFT correspondence for N=4 SYM. We determine the relaxation time in second order viscous hydrodynamics and find that it is around thirty times shorter than weak coupling expectations. We find that the nonsingularity of the dual geometry in the string frame necessitates turning on the dilaton which leads to a nonvanishing expectation value for tr F^2 behaving like tau^(-10/3).
We investigate hydrodynamic evolution of the quark gluon plasma for the colour glass condensate type initial conditions. We solve full second-order viscous hydrodynamic equations in the longitudinal direction to find that non-boost invariant expansion leads to visible deformation on the initial rapidity distribution. The results indicate that hydrodynamic evolution with viscosity plays an important role in determining parameters for the initial distributions.
The expansion of the fireball created in Au-Au collisions at 200 GeV is described in (3+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics with shear and bulk viscosities. We present results for the transverse momentum spectra, the directed and elliptic flow and the interferometry radii.
A novel formulation of second-order relativistic viscous fluid dynamics based on the effective Boltzmann equation for quasi-particles with medium-dependent masses is briefly reviewed.~The evolution equations for the shear and bulk dissipative corrections, and the corresponding transport coefficients, are presented. Resulting approach allows for thermodynamically-consistent incorporation of lattice QCD equation of state in the fluid dynamical framework.
Viscous hydrodynamics is commonly used to model the evolution of the matter created in an ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collision. It provides a good description of transverse momentum spectra and anisotropic flow. These observables, however, cannot be consistently derived using viscous hydrodynamics alone, because they depend on the microscopic interactions at freeze-out. We derive the ideal hydrodynamic limit and the first-order viscous correction to anisotropic flow ($v_2$, $v_3$ and $v_4$) and momentum spectrum using a transport calculation. The linear response coefficient to the initial an…
The invariant mass spectrum and the elliptic flow of lepton pairs produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC are studied with viscous hydrodynamics. The effects of viscous corrections on dilepton observables are explored. The lepton pairs originating from charm quarks evolving in the viscous background are seen to be a good probe of quark energy loss and gain, as quantified by the dilepton spectrum and by the dilepton elliptic flow.
Causal viscous hydrodynamic fits to experimental data for pion and kaon transverse momentum spectra from central Au+Au collisions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV are presented. Starting the hydrodynamic evolution at 1 fm/c and using small values for the relaxation time, reasonable fits up to moderate ratios η/s\simeq 0.4 can be obtained. It is found that a percentage of roughly 50 η/s to 75 η/s of the final meson multiplicity is due to viscous entropy production. Finally, it is shown that with increasing viscosity, the ratio of HBT radii R_{out}/R_{side} approaches and eventually matches the experime…
We investigate the phenomenology of freely expanding fluids, with different material properties, evolving through the Israel-Stewart (IS) causal viscous hydrodynamics, and compare our results with those obtained in the relativistic Eckart-Landau-Navier-Stokes (ELNS) acausal viscous hydrodynamics. Through the analysis of scaling invariants we give a definition of thermalization time which can be self-consistently determined in viscous hydrodynamics. Next we construct the solutions for one-dimensional boost-invariant flows. Expansion of viscous fluids is slower than that of one-dimensional ideal…
A new formulation of second-order viscous hydrodynamics, based on an expansion around a locally anisotropic momentum distribution, is presented. It generalizes the previously developed formalism of anisotropic hydrodynamics (aHydro) to include a complete set of dissipative currents for which equations of motion are derived by solving the Boltzmann equation in the 14-moment approximation. By solving the vaHydro equations for a transversally homogeneous, longitudinally boost-invariant system ((0+1)-dimensional expansion) and comparing with the exact solution of the Boltzmann equation in relaxati…
In this work we simulate a viscous hydrodynamical model of non-central Au-Au collisions in 2+1 dimensions, assuming longitudinal boost invariance. The model fluid equations were proposed by Öttinger and Grmela \cite{OG}. Freezeout is signaled when the viscous corrections become large relative to the ideal terms. Then viscous corrections to the transverse momentum and differential elliptic flow spectra are calculated. When viscous corrections to the thermal distribution function are not included, the effects of viscosity on elliptic flow are modest. However, when these corrections are included,…
Relativistic hydrodynamics represents a powerful tool to investigate the time evolution of the strongly interacting quark gluon plasma created in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. The equations are solved often numerically, and numerous analytic solutions also exist. However, the inclusion of viscous effects in exact, analytic solutions has received less attention. Here we utilize Hubble flow to investigate the role of bulk viscosity, and present different classes of exact, analytic solutions valid also in the presence of dissipative effects.
The one-dimensional non-boost-invariant evolution of the quark-gluon plasma, presumably produced during the early stages of heavy-ion collisions, is analyzed within the frameworks of viscous and anisotropic hydrodynamics. We neglect transverse dynamics and assume homogeneous conditions in the transverse plane but, differently from Bjorken expansion, we relax longitudinal boost invariance in order to study the rapidity dependence of various hydrodynamical observables. We compare the results obtained using several formulations of second-order viscous hydrodynamics with a recent approach to aniso…
Assuming that in the hot dense matter produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, the energy density, entropy density, and pressure as well as the azimuthal and space-time rapidity components of the shear tensor are uniform in the direction transversal to the reaction plane, we derive a set of schematic equations from the Isreal-Stewart causal viscous hydrodynamics. These equations are then used to describe the evolution dynamics of relativistic heavy-ion collisions by taking the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio of $1/4π$ for the initial quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase and of ten tim…
A new set of equations for relativistic viscous hydrodynamics that captures both weak-coupling and strong-coupling physics to second order in gradients has been developed recently. We apply this framework to bulk physics at RHIC, both for standard (Glauber-type) as well as for Color-Glass-Condensate initial conditions and show that the results do not depend strongly on the values for the second-order transport coefficients. Results for multiplicity, radial flow and elliptic flow are presented and we quote the ratio of viscosity over entropy density for which our hydrodynamic model is consisten…
We present results for the elliptic and triangular flow coefficients in Au+Au collisions at root-s=200 AGeV using event-by-event (3+1)D viscous hydrodynamic simulations. We study the effect of initial state fluctuations and finite viscosities on the flow coefficients v_2 and v_3 as functions of transverse momentum and pseudo-rapidity. Fluctuations are essential to reproduce the measured centrality dependence of elliptic flow. We argue that simultaneous measurements of v_2 and v_3 can determine eta/s more precisely.
We construct a new relativistic viscous hydrodynamics code optimized in the Milne coordinates. We split the conservation equations into an ideal part and a viscous part, using the Strang spitting method. In the code a Riemann solver based on the two-shock approximation is utilized for the ideal part and the Piecewise Exact Solution (PES) method is applied for the viscous part. We check the validity of our numerical calculations by comparing analytical solutions, the viscous Bjorken's flow and the Israel-Stewart theory in Gubser flow regime. Using the code, we discuss possible development of th…
Based on a viscous hydrodynamic model with anisotropically perturbed Gubser flow and isothermal Cooper-Frye freezeout at early times, we analytically compute the flow harmonics $v_n(p_T)$ and study how they scale with the harmonic number $n$ and transverse momentum, as well as the system size, shear and bulk viscosity coefficients, and collision energy. In particular, we find that the magnitude of shear viscous corrections grows linearly with $n$. The mixing between different harmonics is also discussed. While this model is rather simple as compared to realistic heavy-ion collisions, we argue …
We derive two general criteria that can be used to constrain the initial time of the onset of 2nd-order conformal viscous hydrodynamics in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We show this explicitly for 0+1 dimensional viscous hydrodynamics and discuss how to extend the constraint to higher dimensions.
Based on the exact solution of Boltzmann kinetic equation in the relaxation-time approximation, the precision of the two most recent formulations of relativistic second-order non-conformal viscous hydrodynamics (14-moment approximation and causal Chapman-Enskog method), standard Israel-Stewart theory, and anisotropic hydrodynamics framework, in the simple case of one-dimensional Bjorken expansion, is tested. It is demonstrated that the failure of Israel-Stewart theory in reproducing exact solutions of the Boltzmann kinetic equation occurs due to neglecting and/or choosing wrong forms of some o…
We express the transport coefficients appearing in the second-order evolution equations for bulk viscous pressure and shear stress tensor using Bose-Einstein, Boltzmann, and Fermi-Dirac statistics for the equilibrium distribution function and Grad's 14-moment approximation as well as the method of Chapman-Enskog expansion for the non-equilibrium part. Specializing to the case of transversally homogeneous and boost-invariant longitudinal expansion of the viscous medium, we compare the results obtained using the above methods with those obtained from the exact solution of the massive 0+1d relati…
A hybrid transport approach for the bulk evolution of viscous QCD matter produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions is presented. The expansion of the dense deconfined phase of the reaction is modeled with viscous hydrodynamics while the dilute late hadron gas stage is described microscopically by the Boltzmann equation. The advantages of such a hybrid approach lie in the improved capability of handling large dissipative corrections in the late dilute phase of the reaction, including a realistic treatment of the non-equilibrium hadronic chemistry and kinetic freeze-out. By varying the…
First order quark hadron phase transition is considered in scaling hydrodynamics including the Csernai-Kapusta model of nucleation of hadronic bubbles leading to supercooling. The effect of viscosity on the entropy production is studied in ideal as well as in viscous hydrodynamics with and without supercooling. It is found that the excess entropy produced due to supercooling depends weakly on viscosity.
Hydrodynamic simulations are used to make predictions for the integrated elliptic flow coefficient v_2 in sqrt(s)=5.5 TeV lead-lead and sqrt(s)=14 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC. We predict a 10% increase in v_2 from RHIC to Pb+Pb at LHC, and v_2 ~ 0 in p+p collisions unless eta/s < 0.08.
The transport coefficients of causal relativistic dissipative fluid dynamics are calculated both in a field-theoretical and a kinetic approach. We find that the results from the traditional kinetic calculation by Israel and Stewart are modified. The new expressions for the viscous transport coefficients agree with the results obtained in the field-theoretical approach when the contributions from pair creation and annihilation are neglected.
We solve the relativistic Riemann problem in viscous gluon matter employing a microscopic parton cascade. We demonstrate the transition from ideal to viscous shock waves by varying the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio $η/s$ from zero to infinity. We show that an $η/s$ ratio larger than 0.2 prevents the development of well-defined shock waves on timescales typical for ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. Comparisons with viscous hydrodynamic calculations confirm our findings.
The drag and diffusion coefficients are studied within the framework of Fokker-Planck dynamics for the case of a charm quark propagating in an expanding quark-gluon plasma. The space-time evolution of the nuclear matter created in the relativistic heavy-ion collision is modelled using MUSIC, a 3+1 D relativistic viscous hydrodynamic approach. The effect of viscous corrections to the heavy quark transport coefficients is explored by considering scattering processes with thermal quarks and gluons in the medium. It is observed that the momentum diffusion of the heavy quarks is sensitive to the sh…
We present event-by-event viscous hydrodynamic calculations of the anisotropic flow coefficients v_2 to v_5 for heavy-ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). We study the dependence of different flow harmonics on shear viscosity and the morphology of the initial state. v_3 and higher flow harmonics exhibit a particularly strong dependence on both the initial granularity and shear viscosity. We argue that a combined analysis of all available flow harmonics will allow to determine eta/s of the quark gluon plasma precisely. Presented results strongly hint at a value (eta/s)_…
In this work, we start with chiral kinetic theory and construct the spin hydrodynamic framework for a chiral spinor system. Using the 14-moment expansion formalism, we obtain the equations of motion of second-order dissipative relativistic fluid dynamics with non-trivial spin polarization density. In a chiral spinor system, the spin alignment effect could be treated in the same framework as the Chiral Vortical Effect (CVE). However, the quantum corrections due to fluid vorticity induce not only CVE terms in the vector/axial charge currents but also corrections to the stress tensor. In this fra…
We demonstrate how to match pre-equilibrium dynamics of a 0+1 dimensional quark gluon plasma to 2nd-order viscous hydrodynamical evolution. The matching allows us to specify the initial values of the energy density and shear tensor at the initial time of hydrodynamical evolution as a function of the lifetime of the pre-equilibrium period. We compare two models for the pre-equilibrium quark-gluon plasma, longitudinal free streaming and collisionally-broadened longitudinal expansion, and present analytic formulas which can be used to fix the necessary components of the energy-momentum tensor. Th…
The space-time evolution of the (1+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamics with an initial quark-gluon plasma (QGP) produced in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions is studied numerically. The particle-emitting sources undergo a crossover transition from the QGP to hadronic gas. We take into account a usual shear viscosity for the strongly coupled QGP as well as the bulk viscosity which increases significantly in the crossover region. The two-pion Hanbury-Brown-Twiss (HBT) interferometry for the viscous hydrodynamic sources is performed. The HBT analyses indicate that the viscosity effect on th…
Event-by-event viscous hydrodynamics is combined with heavy quark energy loss models to compute heavy flavor flow cumulants $v_2\{2\}$, $v_3\{2\}$, and $v_2\{4\}$ as well as the nuclear modification factors of $D^0$ and $B^0$ mesons in PbPb collisions at 2.76 TeV. Our results indicate that bottom quarks can flow as much as charm quarks in the $p_T$ range 8--30 GeV.
The matter created in central p+p, p+Pb and Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt{s}=5.02 TeV is simulated event-by-event using the superSONIC model, which combines pre-equilibrium flow, viscous hydrodynamic evolution and late-stage hadronic rescatterings. Employing a generalization of the Monte Carlo Glauber model where each nucleon possesses three constituent quarks, superSONIC describes the experimentally measured elliptic and triangular flow at central rapidity in all systems using a single choice for the fluid parameters, such as shear and bulk viscosities. This suggests a common hydrodynamic origin o…
We study an azimuthally-symmetric boost-invariant quark-gluon plasma using quasiparticle anisotropic hydrodynamics including the effects of both shear and bulk viscosities. We compare results obtained using the quasiparticle method with the standard anisotropic hydrodynamics and viscous hydrodynamics. We consider the predictions of the three methods for the differential particle spectra and mean transverse momentum. We find that the three methods agree for small shear viscosity to entropy density ratio, $η/s$, but show differences at large $η/s$. Additionally, we find that the standard anisotr…
We give a pedagogical review of relativistic hydrodynamics relevant to relativistic heavy ion collisions. Topics discussed include linear response theory derivation of 2nd order viscous hydrodynamics including the Kubo formulas, kinetic theory derivation of 2nd order viscous hydrodynamics, anisotropic hydrodynamics and a brief review of numerical algorithms. Emphasis is given to the theory of hydrodynamics rather than phenomenology.
We compute v4/(v2)^2 in ideal and viscous hydrodynamics. We investigate its sensitivity to details of the hydrodynamic model and compare the results to experimental data from RHIC. Whereas v2 has a significant sensitivity only to initial eccentricity and viscosity while being insensitive to freeze out temperature, we find that v4/(v2)^2 is quite insensitive to initial eccentricity. On the other hand, it can still be sensitive to shear viscosity in addition to freeze out temperature, although viscous effects do not universally increase v4/(v2)^2 as originally predicted. Consistent with data, we…
I compare the first viscous hydrodynamic prediction for integrated elliptic flow in Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC with the first data released by the ALICE collaboration. These new data are found to be consistent with hydrodynamic extrapolations of RHIC data with no change in medium parameters (e.g., average viscosity). I also discuss how, in general, a precise comparison of data to theoretical calculations requires an understanding of some subtleties of the measurement -- most notably the cut on transverse momentum of the particles used and the differing sensitivities to flow fluctuations and n…
Using the (2+1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic code VISH2+1, we present systematic studies of the dependence of pion and proton transverse momentum spectra and their elliptic flow in 200 A GeV Au+Au collisions on the parameters of the hydrodynamic model (thermalization time, initial entropy density distribution, decoupling temperature, equation of state, and specific shear viscosity eta/s). We identify a tension between the slope of the proton spectra, which (within hydrodynamic simulations that assume a constant shear viscosity to entropy density ratio) prefer larger eta/s values, and the s…
New, analytic solutions of relativistic viscous hydrodynamics are presented, describing expanding fireballs with Hubble-like velocity profile and ellipsoidal symmetry, similar to fireballs created in heavy ion collisions. We find that with these specifications, one obtains solutions where the shear viscosity essentially does not influence the time evolution of the system, thus these solutions are particularly adept tools to study the effect of bulk viscosity alone, which always results in a slower decrease of energy density as well as temperature compared to the case of perfect fluid. We inves…
