Influence of Shear Viscosity of Quark-Gluon Plasma on Elliptic Flow in Ultrarelativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions
Abstract
We investigate the influence of a temperature-dependent shear viscosity over entropy density ratio η/s on the transverse momentum spectra and elliptic flow of hadrons in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. We find that the elliptic flow in sNN=200GeV Au+Au collisions at RHIC is dominated by the viscosity in the hadronic phase and in the phase transition region, but largely insensitive to the viscosity of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). At the highest LHC energy, the elliptic flow becomes sensitive to the QGP viscosity and insensitive to the hadronic viscosity.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review Letters
- Pub Date:
- May 2011
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.212302
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1101.2442
- Bibcode:
- 2011PhRvL.106u2302N
- Keywords:
-
- 25.75.Ld;
- 12.38.Mh;
- 24.10.Nz;
- Collective flow;
- Quark-gluon plasma;
- Hydrodynamic models;
- Nuclear Theory;
- High Energy Physics - Phenomenology;
- Nuclear Experiment
- E-Print:
- 4 pages, 3 figures, version accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters, clarified the temperature regions and phases where elliptic flow is most sensitive to viscosity