Gravitational collapse and far from equilibrium dynamics in holographic CFTs

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:10100043,
            doi = {10.48660/10100043},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/10100043},
            author = {Chesler, Paul},
            keywords = {Quantum Fields and Strings},
            language = {en},
            title = {Gravitational collapse and far from equilibrium dynamics in holographic CFTs},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2010},
            month = {oct},
            note = {PIRSA:10100043 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Abstract

A remarkable result from heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider is that shortly after a collision, the medium produced behaves as a nearly ideal liquid. The system is very dynamic and evolves from a state of two colliding nuclei to a liquid in a time roughly equivalent to the time it takes light to cross a proton. Understanding the mechanisms behind the rapid approach to a liquid state is a challenging task. In recent years holography has emerged as a powerful tool to study non-equilibrium phenomena, mapping the (challenging) dynamics of quantum systems onto the dynamics of classical gravitational systems. The creation of a liquid in a quantum theory maps onto the classical process of gravitational collapse and black hole formation. I will describe how one can use holography to study processes which mimic the dynamics of heavy ion collisions.