English

Holography and hydrodynamics: diffusion on stretched horizons

High Energy Physics - Theory 2011-05-05 v1 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

Abstract

We show that long-time, long-distance fluctuations of plane-symmetric horizons exhibit universal hydrodynamic behavior. By considering classical fluctuations around black-brane backgrounds, we find both diffusive and shear modes. The diffusion constant and the shear viscosity are given by simple formulas, in terms of metric components. For a given metric, the answers can be interpreted as corresponding kinetic coefficients in the holographically dual theory. For the near-extremal Dp, M2 and M5 branes, the computed kinetic coefficients coincide with the results of independent AdS/CFT calculations. In all the examples, the ratio of shear viscosity to entropy density is equal to \hbar/(4\pi k_B), suggesting a special meaning of this value.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.hep-th/0309213,
  title  = {Holography and hydrodynamics: diffusion on stretched horizons},
  author = {Pavel Kovtun and Dam T. Son and Andrei O. Starinets},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:hep-th/0309213},
  year   = {2011}
}

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27 pages