Tilman Enss (ITP, Heidelberg University)

Hydrodynamic attractors in ultracold atoms

In heavy ion collisions, hydrodynamic attractors can describe out-of-equilibrium dynamics before hydrodynamics is expected to be valid. We describe how such behavior might be observed in real time in ultracold atomic gases. Although ultracold atomic gases are dilute, they have remarkable transport properties exhibiting hydrodynamics and nearly perfect fluidity. We show by explicit microscopic calculations how the system relaxes towards equilibrium. On relevant time scales, the dynamics is well represented by an analytical attractor solution that is valid at shorter times before the onset of Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics.