Sound Mode Hydrodynamics from Bulk Scalar Fields

We study the hydrodynamic sound mode using gauge/gravity correspondence by examining a generic black brane background's response to perturbations. We assume that the background is generated by a single scalar field, and then generalize to the case of multiple scalar fields. The relevant differential equations obeyed by the gauge invariant variables are presented in both cases. Finally, we present an analytical solution to these equations in a special case; this solution allows us to determine the speed of sound and bulk viscosity for certain special metrics. These results may be useful in determining sound mode transport coefficients in phenomenologically motivated holographic models of strongly coupled systems.Comment: 17 pages. Corrections made to one of the gauge invariant equations (66). This equation was not used in the other main conclusions of the paper, so the rest of the results are unchange

On Fluctuations of Conserved Charges : Lattice Results Versus Hadron Resonance Gas

We compare recent lattice results on fluctuations and correlations of strangeness, baryon number and electric charge obtained with p4 improved staggered action with the prediction of hadron resonance gas model. We show that hadron resonance gas can describe these fluctuations reasonably well if the hadron properties are as calculated on the lattice.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, uses jpconf.cls, to appear in the proceedings of 26th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamic

The applicability of causal dissipative hydrodynamics to relativistic heavy ion collisions

We utilize nonequilibrium covariant transport theory to determine the region of validity of causal Israel-Stewart dissipative hydrodynamics (IS) and Navier-Stokes theory (NS) for relativistic heavy ion physics applications. A massless ideal gas with 2->2 interactions is considered in a 0+1D Bjorken scenario, appropriate for the early longitudinal expansion stage of the collision. In the scale invariant case of a constant shear viscosity to entropy density ratio eta/s ~ const, we find that Israel-Stewart theory is 10% accurate in calculating dissipative effects if initially the expansion timescale exceeds half the transport mean free path tau0/lambda0 > ~2. The same accuracy with Navier-Stokes requires three times larger tau0/lambda0 > ~6. For dynamics driven by a constant cross section, on the other hand, about 50% larger tau0/lambda0 > ~3 (IS) and ~9 (NS) are needed. For typical applications at RHIC energies s_{NN}**(1/2) ~ 100-200 GeV, these limits imply that even the Israel-Stewart approach becomes marginal when eta/s > ~0.15. In addition, we find that the 'naive' approximation to Israel-Stewart theory, which neglects products of gradients and dissipative quantities, has an even smaller range of applicability than Navier-Stokes. We also obtain analytic Israel-Stewart and Navier-Stokes solutions in 0+1D, and present further tests for numerical dissipative hydrodynamics codes in 1+1, 2+1, and 3+1D based on generalized conservation laws.Comment: 30 pages, 26 EPS figures, revtex stylefil

Elliptic flow in nuclear collisions at the Large Hadron Collider

We use perfect-fluid hydrodynamical model to predict the elliptic flow coefficients in Pb + Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The initial state for the hydrodynamical calculation for central $A + A$ collisions is obtained from the perturbative QCD + saturation (EKRT) model. The centrality dependence of the initial state is modeled by the optical Glauber model. We show that the baseline results obtained from the framework are in good agreement with the data from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), and show predictions for the $p_T$ spectra and elliptic flow of pions in Pb + Pb collisions at the LHC. Also mass and multiplicity effects are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Dynamical freeze-out condition in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions

We determine the decoupling surfaces for the hydrodynamic description of heavy ion collisions at RHIC and LHC by comparing the local hydrodynamic expansion rate with the microscopic pion-pion scattering rate. The pion $p_T$ spectra for nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC are computed by applying the Cooper-Frye procedure on the dynamical-decoupling surfaces, and compared with those obtained from the constant-temperature freeze-out surfaces. Comparison with RHIC data shows that the system indeed decouples when the expansion rate becomes comparable with the pion scattering rate. The dynamical decoupling based on the rates comparison also suggests that the effective decoupling temperature in central heavy ion collisions remains practically unchanged from RHIC to LHC.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figure

Influence of a temperature-dependent shear viscosity on the azimuthal asymmetries of transverse momentum spectra in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions

We study the influence of a temperature-dependent shear viscosity over entropy density ratio $\eta/s$, different shear relaxation times $\tau_\pi$, as well as different initial conditions on the transverse momentum spectra of charged hadrons and identified particles. We investigate the azimuthal flow asymmetries as a function of both collision energy and centrality. The elliptic flow coefficient turns out to be dominated by the hadronic viscosity at RHIC energies. Only at higher collision energies the impact of the viscosity in the QGP phase is visible in the flow asymmetries. Nevertheless, the shear viscosity near the QCD transition region has the largest impact on the collective flow of the system. We also find that the centrality dependence of the elliptic flow is sensitive to the temperature dependence of $\eta/s$.Comment: 13 pages, 20 figure

The Azimuthal Asymmetry at large p_t seem to be too large for a ``Jet Quenching''

We discuss simple generic model of ``jet quenching'' in which matter absorption is defined by one parameter. We show that as absorption grows, the azimuthal asymmetry v_2 grows as well, reaching the finite limit with a simple geometric interpretation. It turns out, that this limit is still below the experimental values for 6 > p_t > 2 GeV, according to preliminary data from STAR experiment at RHIC. We thus conclude that ``jet quenching'' models alone cannot account for the observed phenomenon, and speculate about alternative scenarios.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figs, 1 table. The final version contaning note added in proofs for PRC, which reflects experimental development which seem to suggest that the geometrical model for v2 is in fact correct description of data at pt=2-10 Ge

Second order hydrodynamics for a special class of gravity duals

The sound mode hydrodynamic dispersion relation is computed up to order $q^3$ for a class of gravitational duals which includes both Schwarzschild $AdS$ and Dp-Brane metrics. The implications for second order transport coefficients are examined within the context of Israel-Stewart theory. These sound mode results are compared with previously known results for the shear mode. This comparison allows one to determine the third order hydrodynamic contributions to the shear mode for the class of metrics considered here.Comment: 20 page

v4: A small, but sensitive observable for heavy ion collisions

Higher order Fourier coefficients of the azimuthally dependent single particle spectra resulting from noncentral heavy ion collisions are investigated. For intermediate to large transverse momenta, these anisotropies are expected to become as large as 5 %, and should be clearly measurable. The physics content of these observables is discussed from two different extreme but complementary viewpoints, hydrodynamics and the geometric limit with extreme energy loss.Comment: as published: typos corrected, Fig. 3 slightly improved in numerics and presentatio