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Viscosity in Strongly Interacting Quantum Field Theories from Black Hole Physics

P.  K. Kovtun1, D. T. Son2, and A. O. Starinets3

  • 1Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA
  • 2Institute for Nuclear Theory, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-1550, USA
  • 3Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5, Canada

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 111601 – Published 22 March, 2005

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.111601

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 ℏ/4πkB 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.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 111601– Published 22 March, 2005
  • Received 20 December 2004

© 2005 American Physical Society

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