Full 3+1 dimensional simulation of the relativistic Boltzmann equation

Relativistic hydrodynamics has been the tool of choice to simulate the dynamics of the quark-gluon plasma produced in heavy-ion collisions. Despite the success of hydrodynamics, it has several shortcomings stemming from the fact that it assumes a system close to equilibrium. An alternative to hydrodynamics is solving the Boltzmann equation, which describes the evolution of the full distribution function of the system without the close to equilibrium requirement. Large scale simulations using the Boltzmann equation, however, has hitherto proved computationally intractable due to their computational expense. By using a novel algorithm, and leveraging the computational power of graphical processor units, we numerically integrate the Boltzmann equation in the relaxation time approximation.

Grantor

Department of Physics

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Grunow, Ernst William

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Peshier, Andre

• physics

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33705

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/33705