PIRSA:18060036

Bounds on Thermalization and Viscosity from the Average Null Energy Condition & Magnetic States with non-trivial Topology

Simeth, W. & Delacretaz, L. (2018). Bounds on Thermalization and Viscosity from the Average Null Energy Condition & Magnetic States with non-trivial Topology. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/18060036

Simeth, Wolfgang, and Luca Delacretaz. Bounds on Thermalization and Viscosity from the Average Null Energy Condition & Magnetic States with non-trivial Topology. Perimeter Institute, Jun. 20, 2018, https://pirsa.org/18060036 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:18060036,
            doi = {10.48660/18060036},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/18060036},
            author = {Simeth, Wolfgang and Delacretaz, Luca},
            keywords = {},
            language = {en},
            title = {Bounds on Thermalization and Viscosity from the Average Null Energy Condition \& Magnetic States with non-trivial Topology},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2018},
            month = {jun},
            note = {PIRSA:18060036 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
Talk number
PIRSA:18060036
Collection
Talk Type
Abstract
Bounds on Thermalization and Viscosity from the Average Null Energy Condition: I will present implications of the averaged null energy condition for thermal states of relativistic quantum field theories. A key property of such thermal states is the thermalization length. This lengthscale generalizes the notion of a mean free path beyond weak coupling, and allows finite size regions to independently thermalize. Using the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, we show that thermal fluctuations in finite size `fireballs' can produce states that violate the averaged null energy condition if the thermalization length is too short or if the shear viscosity is too large. These bounds become very weak with a large number N of degrees of freedom but can constrain real-world systems, such as the quark-gluon plasma.