Inhomogeneous thermalization in strongly coupled field theories.
To describe theoretically the creation and evolution of the quark-gluon plasma, one typically employs three ingredients: a model for the initial state, nonhydrodynamic early time evolution, and hydrodynamics. In this Letter we study the nonhydrodynamic early time evolution using the AdS/CFT correspondence in the presence of inhomogeneities. We find that the AdS description of the early time evolution is well matched by free streaming. Near the end of the early time interval where our analytic computations are reliable, the stress tensor agrees with the second order hydrodynamic stress tensor computed from the local energy density and fluid velocity. Our techniques may also be useful for the study of far-from-equilibrium strongly coupled systems in other areas of physics.
David Rittenhouse Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA and Laboratoire de Physique Théorique, École Normale Supérieure, 75005 Paris, France.
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Balasubramanian
Instituut voor Theoretische Fysica, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
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A
Bernamonti
Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam, 1090 GL Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
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J
de Boer
Theoretische Natuurkunde, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and International Solvay Institutes, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
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B
Craps
Helsinki Institute of Physics & Department of Physics, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland.
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L
Franti
Theoretische Natuurkunde, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, and International Solvay Institutes, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium.
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F
Galli
Helsinki Institute of Physics & Department of Physics, FIN-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, SE-75108 Uppsala, Sweden.
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E
Keski-Vakkuri
Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA and Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA.
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B
Müller
Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Regensburg, D-93040 Regensburg, Germany.
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Schäfer