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Journal ArticleDOI

Shear viscosity of strongly coupled N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills plasma

20 Aug 2001-Physical Review Letters (The American Physical Society)-Vol. 87, Iss: 8, pp 081601-081601
TL;DR: In this article, the authors derived the shear viscosity of the finite-temperature N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in the large N, strong-coupling regime with the absorption cross section of low-energy gravitons by a near-extremal black three-brane.
Abstract: Using the anti–de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence, we relate the shear viscosity ? of the finite-temperature N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in the large N, strong-coupling regime with the absorption cross section of low-energy gravitons by a near-extremal black three-brane. We show that in the limit of zero frequency this cross section coincides with the area of the horizon. From this result we find ? = ? / 8N2T3. We conjecture that for finite ’t Hooft coupling gYM2N the shear viscosity is ? = f(gYM2N)N2T3, where f(x) is a monotonic function that decreases from O(x-2ln-1(1/x)) at small x to ?/8 when x??.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is provided evidence that this value of shear viscosity to volume density of entropy may serve as a lower bound for a wide class of systems, thus suggesting that black hole horizons are dual to the most ideal fluids.
Abstract: The ratio of shear viscosity to volume density of entropy can be used to characterize how close a given fluid is to being perfect. Using string theory methods, we show that this ratio is equal to a universal value of [h-bar]/4pikB for a large class of strongly interacting quantum field theories whose dual description involves black holes in anti–de Sitter space. We provide evidence that this value may serve as a lower bound for a wide class of systems, thus suggesting that black hole horizons are dual to the most ideal fluids.

2,721 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a prescription for computing Minkowski-space correlators from AdS/CFT correspondence was formulated and shown to give the correct retarded propagators at zero temperature in four dimensions, as well as at finite temperature in two dimensions.
Abstract: We formulate a prescription for computing Minkowski-space correlators from AdS/CFT correspondence. This prescription is shown to give the correct retarded propagators at zero temperature in four dimensions, as well as at finite temperature in the two-dimensional conformal field theory dual to the BTZ black hole. Using the prescription, we calculate the Chern-Simons diffusion constant of the finite-temperature = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in the strong coupling limit. We explain why the quasinormal frequencies of the asymptotically AdS background correspond to the poles of the retarded Green's function of the boundary conformal field theory.

1,478 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a derivation of the nonlinear equations of boundary fluid dynamics from gravity from gravity is presented, with specific values for fluid parameters, and an explicit expression for the expansion of this fluid stress tensor including terms up to second order in the derivative expansion.
Abstract: Black branes in AdS5 appear in a four parameter family labeled by their velocity and temperature. Promoting these parameters to Goldstone modes or collective coordinate fields—arbitrary functions of the coordinates on the boundary of AdS5—we use Einstein's equations together with regularity requirements and boundary conditions to determine their dynamics. The resultant equations turn out to be those of boundary fluid dynamics, with specific values for fluid parameters. Our analysis is perturbative in the boundary derivative expansion but is valid for arbitrary amplitudes. Our work may be regarded as a derivation of the nonlinear equations of boundary fluid dynamics from gravity. As a concrete application we find an explicit expression for the expansion of this fluid stress tensor including terms up to second order in the derivative expansion.

1,361 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of recent achievements on various aspects of black hole perturbations are discussed such as decoupling of variables in the perturbation equations, quasinormal modes (with special emphasis on various numerical and analytical methods of calculations), late-time tails, gravitational stability, anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory interpretation, and holographic superconductors.
Abstract: Perturbations of black holes, initially considered in the context of possible observations of astrophysical effects, have been studied for the past 10 years in string theory, brane-world models, and quantum gravity. Through the famous gauge/gravity duality, proper oscillations of perturbed black holes, called quasinormal modes, allow for the description of the hydrodynamic regime in the dual finite temperature field theory at strong coupling, which can be used to predict the behavior of quark-gluon plasmas in the nonperturbative regime. On the other hand, the brane-world scenarios assume the existence of extra dimensions in nature, so that multidimensional black holes can be formed in a laboratory experiment. All this stimulated active research in the field of perturbations of higher-dimensional black holes and branes during recent years. In this review recent achievements on various aspects of black hole perturbations are discussed such as decoupling of variables in the perturbation equations, quasinormal modes (with special emphasis on various numerical and analytical methods of calculations), late-time tails, gravitational stability, anti--de Sitter/conformal field theory interpretation of quasinormal modes, and holographic superconductors. We also touch on state-of-the-art observational possibilities for detecting quasinormal modes of black holes.

1,070 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the correlation functions of R-charge currents and components of the stress energy tensor in the strongly coupled large-N finite-temperature = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory were computed.
Abstract: We compute the correlation functions of R-charge currents and components of the stress-energy tensor in the strongly coupled large-N finite-temperature = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, following a recently formulated minkowskian AdS/CFT prescription. We observe that in the long-distance, low-frequency limit, such correlators have the form dictated by hydrodynamics. We deduce from the calculations the R-charge diffusion constant and the shear viscosity. The value for the latter is in agreement with an earlier calculation based on the Kubo formula and absorption by black branes.

1,057 citations