Viscosity of a nucleonic fluid

TL;DR

This paper investigates the viscosity of nucleonic matter using classical and quantum models, exploring conditions near the unitary limit and discussing the potential for neutron matter to behave as a near-perfect fluid.

Contribution

It introduces a comparative analysis of nucleonic viscosity using hard sphere and square well potentials, and examines the near-unitary limit behavior of neutron matter.

Findings

Neutron matter approaches the unitary limit conditions.

Hard sphere and square well models provide insights into nucleonic viscosity.

Neutron matter exhibits near-perfect fluid behavior under certain conditions.

Abstract

The viscosity of nucleonic matter is studied both classically and in a quantum mechanical description. The collisions between particles are modeled as hard sphere scattering as a baseline for comparison and as scattering from an attractive square well potential. Properties associated with the unitary limit are developed which are shown to be approximately realized for a system of neutrons. The issue of near perfect fluid behavior of neutron matter is remarked on. Using some results from hard sphere molecular dynamics studies near perfect fluid behavior is discussed further.