Physics Colloquium - Christy Lecture

Abstract: Heavy-ion collision experiments have provided overwhelming evidence that quarks and gluons, the elementary particles within protons and neutrons, can flow as a nearly frictionless, strongly interacting relativistic liquid over distance scales not much larger than the size of a proton. On the other hand, with the dawn of the multi-messenger astronomy era marked by the detection of a binary neutron star merger, it became imperative to understand how extremely dense fluids behave under very strong gravitational fields. Therefore, cutting-edge experimental apparatus in modern science, such as the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), are now taking data whose description requires pushing the boundaries of our current understanding of fluid dynamics. In this talk, I will discuss the new developments that have contributed to redefining the onset of relativistic fluid dynamics and its extension towards the far-from-equilibrium regime. New results involving viscous fluids and their coupling to general relativity will also be presented. These developments pave the way for the inclusion of viscous effects in state-of-the-art neutron star merger simulations.

Join via Zoom:
https://caltech.zoom.us/j/81866929019
Meeting ID: 818 6692 9019

The colloquium is held in Feynman Lecture Hall, 201 E. Bridge.