Rapidity Correlation Structure in Nuclear Collisions

Abstract

We show that measurements of the rapidity dependence of transverse momentum correlations can be used to determine the characteristic time $τ_π$ that dictates the rate of isotropization of the stress energy tensor, as well as the shear viscosity $ν= η/sT$. We formulate methods for computing these correlations using second order dissipative hydrodynamics with noise. Current data are consistent with $τ_π/ν\sim 10$, but targeted measurements can improve this precision.

18 pages, 6 figures, version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C