26199088
Causal viscous hydrodynamics in 2 + 1 dimensions for relativistic heavy-ion collisions
We explore the effects of shear viscosity on the hydrodynamic evolution and final hadron spectra of Cu + Cu collisions at ultrarelativistic collision energies, using the newly developed (2 + 1)-dimensional viscous hydrodynamic code VISH2+1. Based on the causal Israel-Stewart formalism, this code describes the transverse evolution of longitudinally boost-invariant systems without azimuthal symmetry around the beam direction. Shear viscosity is shown to decelerate the longitudinal and accelerate the transverse hydrodynamic expansion. For fixed initial conditions, this leads to a longer quark-gluon plasma (QGP) lifetime, larger radial flow in the final state, and flatter transverse momentum spectra for the emitted hadrons compared to ideal fluid dynamic simulations. We find that the elliptic flow coefficient v{sub 2} is particularly sensitive to shear viscosity: even the lowest value allowed by the AdS/CFT conjecture {eta}/s{>=}1/4{pi} suppresses v{sub 2} enough to have significant consequences for the phenomenology of heavy-ion collisions at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). A comparison between our numerical results and earlier analytic estimates of viscous effects within a blast-wave model parametrization of the expanding fireball at freeze-out reveals that the full dynamical theory leads to much tighter constraints for the specific shear viscosity {eta}/s, thereby supporting the notion thatmore » the quark-gluon plasma created at RHIC exhibits almost 'perfect fluidity.'.« less
15616146
Soliton with a pion field in the global color symmetry model
We calculate the property of the global color symmetry soliton with the pion field being included explicitly. The calculated results indicate that the pion field provides a strong attraction so that the eigenenergy of a quark and the mass of a soliton reduce drastically, in contrast to those with only the sigma field.
13994103
Causal relativistic hydrodynamics for viscous fluids
We report on recent results from VISH2+1, a code that solves the relativistic Israel–Stewart equations for causal viscous hydrodynamics for heavy-ion collisions with longitudinal boost invariance. We find that even 'minimal' shear viscosity η/s = /(4π) leads to a large reduction of elliptic flow compared to ideal fluid dynamics. We explore systematically the sensitivity of this reduction to the equation of state, system size, initial conditions and the microscopic relaxation time in different formulations of the Israel–Stewart equations.
119173058
Hadron spectra and elliptic flow for 200 A GeV Au + Au collisions from viscous hydrodynamics coupled to a Boltzmann cascade
It is shown that the recently developed hybrid code VISHNU, which couples a relativistic viscous fluid dynamical description of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) with a microscopic Boltzmann cascade for the late hadronic rescattering stage, yields an excellent description of charged and identified hadron spectra and elliptic flow measured in 200 A GeV Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). Using initial conditions that incorporate event-by-event fluctuations in the initial shape and orientation of the collision fireball and values {eta}/s for the specific shear viscosity of the quark-gluon plasma that were recently extracted from the measured centrality dependence of the eccentricity-scaled, p{sub T}-integrated charged hadron elliptic flow v{sub 2,ch}/{epsilon}, we obtain universally good agreement between theory and experiment for the p{sub T} spectra and differential elliptic flow v{sub 2}(p{sub T}) for both pions and protons at all collision centralities.
17687299
Extracting the QGP viscosity from RHIC data—a status report from viscous hydrodynamics
We report recent progress on causal viscous hydrodynamics for relativistic heavy-ion collisions. For fixed specific shear viscosity η/s, uncertainties in the elliptic flow arising from initial conditions, equation of state, bulk viscosity and numerical viscosity, and the treatment of the highly viscous hadronic stage and freeze-out procedure are analysed. A comparison of current viscous hydrodynamic results with experimental data yields a robust upper limit .
118634430
The QGP shear viscosity–elusive goal or just around the corner?
With the new viscous hydrodynamic + hadron cascade hybrid code VISHNU, a rather precise () extraction of the quark gluon plasma (QGP) shear viscosity (?/s)QGP from heavy-ion elliptic flow data is possible if the initial eccentricity of the collision fireball is known with <5% accuracy. At this point, eccentricities from initial state models differ by up to 20%, leading to an uncertainty for (?/s)QGP. It is shown that a simultaneous comparison of elliptic and triangular flow, v2 and v3, puts strong constraints on initial state models and can largely eliminate the present uncertainty in (?/s)QGP. The variation of the differential elliptic flow v2(pT) for identified hadrons between RHIC and LHC energies provides additional tests of the evolution model.
16178268
The radio lightcurve of SN 2008iz in M82 revealed by Urumqi observations
We report on a set of 5 GHz Urumqi observations of the galaxy M82, made between August 2005 and May 2009. From the resulting flux densities, we detect a strong flare, starting in March or April and peaking in June 2008. We identify this flare with supernova SN 2008iz. The time sampling of the radio light curve allows us to obtain information on the precursor mass-loss rate, the strength of the magnetic field in the radiating region, the explosion date, and the deceleration of the expanding shock. We also check the possible contribution of synchrotron self absorption to the radio light curve and compare our model with other observations of the supernova at 22 GHz.
119312762
Structure, spectra and variability of some GPS radio sources
We report the results of multifrequency-VLBI observations of GHz-Peaked-Spectrum (GPS) radio sources. The VLBI structure and component spectra of some GPS sources are presented. Our VLBI results show that about 80% of the GPS galaxies exhibit a compact double or CSO-like structure, white the GPS quasars tend to show a core-jet. The component spectra of the GPS galaxies are often steep/convex, and the core has a flat spectrum but it is usually hidden or weak. In addition, we studied the variability of GPS sources by comparing new flux density measures, acquired with the Urumqi 25-m telescope at 4.85 GHz, with previous 87GB data. The results show that 44% of the GPS quasars varied higher than 10% in passed 20 years, while the fraction is only 12% for the GPS galaxies meaning that the GPS quasars are much more variable than GPS galaxies. In total, 25% of GPS sources show > 10% variability at 4.85 GHz in our sample.
16003577
J1128+592: a highly variable IDV source
Short time-scale radio variations of compact extragalactic radio quasars and blazars known as IntraDay Variability (IDV) can be explained in at least some sources as a propagation effect; the variations are interpreted as scintillation of radio waves in the turbulent interstellar medium of the Milky Way. One of the most convincing observational arguments in favor of a propagation-induced variability scenario is the observed annual modulation in the characteristic time scale of the variation due to the Earth's orbital motion. So far there are only two sources known with a well-constrained seasonal cycle. Annual modulation has been proposed for a few other less well-documented objects. However, for some other IDV sources source-intrinsic structural variations which cause drastic changes in the variability time scale were also suggested. J1128+592 is a recently discovered, highly variable IDV source. Previous, densely time-sampled flux-density measurements with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope (Germany) and the Urumqi 25-m radio telescope (China), strongly indicate an annual modulation of the time scale. The most recent 4 observations in 2006/7, however, do not fit well to the annual modulation model proposed before. In this paper, we investigate a possible explanation of this discrepancy. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
118545612
A Statistical Study on the Morphology of Rays and Dynamics of Blobs in the Wake of Coronal Mass Ejections
In this paper, with a survey through the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) data from 1996 to 2009, we present 11 events with plasma blobs flowing outwards sequentially along a bright coronal ray in the wake of a coronal mass ejection. The ray is believed to be associated with the current-sheet structure that formed as a result of solar eruption, and the blobs are products of magnetic reconnection occurring along the current sheet. The ray morphology and blob dynamics are investigated statistically. It is found that the apparent angular widths of the rays at a fixed time vary in a range of 2.1 – 6.6○ (2.0 – 4.4○) with an average of 3.5○ (2.9○) at 3R⊙ (4R⊙), respectively, and the observed durations of the events vary from 12 h to a few days with an average of 27 h. It is also found, based on the analysis of blob motions, that 58% (26) of the blobs were accelerated, 20% (9) were decelerated, and 22% (10) moved with a nearly constant speed. Comparing the dynamics of our blobs and those that are observed above the tip of a helmet streamer, we find that the speeds and accelerations of the blobs in these two cases differ significantly. It is suggested that these differences of the blob dynamics stem from the associated magnetic reconnection involving different magnetic field configurations and triggering processes.
119257437
Very Long Baseline Array observations of the intraday variable source J1128+592
Context. Short timescale flux density variations in flat spectrum radio sources are often explained by the scattering of radio waves in the turbulent ionized interstellar medium of the Milky Way. One of the most convincing observational arguments in favor of this is the annual modulation of the variability timescale caused by the orbital motion of Earth around the Sun. J1128+5925 is a recently discovered IDV source with a possible annual modulation in its variability timescale. New observations suggest a change in its variability characteristics.