Würzburg Seminar on Quantum Field Theory and Gravity

Gubser flow is an evolution with cylindrical and boost symmetries, which can be best studied by mapping the future wedge of Minkowski space (R$^{3,1}$) to dS$_3$ $\times$ $\mathbb{R}$ in a conformal relativistic theory. Here, we sharpen our previous analytic results and validate them via the first numerical exploration of the Gubser flow in a holographic conformal field theory. 

Remarkably, the leading generic behavior at large de-Sitter time is free-streaming in transverse directions and the sub-leading behavior is that of a color glass condensate. We show that the Gubser flow can be smoothly glued to the vacuum outside the future Minkowski wedge. The energy density vanishes faster than any power when extrapolated to early proper time or to large distances from the central axis. We also find that at intermediate times the ratio of the transverse and longitudinal pressures to the energy density approach a fixed point which becomes hydrodynamic only for large initial energy densities. 

We argue that our results suggest that the Gubser flow is better applied to collective behavior in jets rather than the full medium in the phenomenology of heavy ion collisions, and can reveal clues to the mechanism of confinement