Speaker
Description
The speed of sound is a key parameter for characterizing equilibrium states. However, sound waves change their properties when propagating through rapidly evolving anisotropic media, such as the quark-gluon plasma created in heavy-ion collisions. This paper uses N = 4 Super-Yang-Mills theory to numerically study the time evolution of the speed and attenuation of sound modes along with the relaxation time in a plasma undergoing Bjorken expansion from various initial states in a quasi-static approximation. The longitudinal Bjorken expansion breaks the isotropy, resulting in two distinct sound speeds that range from the conformal value to the speed of light. An anisotropic hydrodynamic description is constructed and its applicability is discussed. Implications for the analysis of heavy ion data are considered.
| Is this an experimental talk? | No |
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| Is this on behalf of a collaboration? | No |
| Are you willing to present as a poster if it is not selected for oral presentation? | Yes |