Transport coefficients in thermal QCD: A probe to the collision integral

TL;DR

This paper investigates how different collision integrals in kinetic theory affect transport coefficients in thermal QCD, exploring their potential to distinguish between models and understanding the influence of magnetic fields on quark-gluon plasma properties.

Contribution

The study compares BGK and RTA collision integrals in calculating transport coefficients and examines magnetic field effects on these coefficients in thermal QCD.

Findings

BGK integral enhances η and reduces ζ compared to RTA.

Ratios η/s and ζ/s show opposite trends with BGK and RTA.

Strong magnetic fields further modify transport coefficients and their ratios.

Abstract

We have studied the transport coefficients as a tool to probe the collision integral appeared in the Boltzmann equation. For this purpose, we have estimated the transport coefficients (momentum: \{$\eta$,$\zeta$\}, heat: \{$\kappa$\}, and charge: \{$\sigma_{\rm el}$\}) in the kinetic theory with Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) and the collision integral in RTA and ask whether we can distinguish between the two collision integrals. For example, $\eta$ gets enhanced while $\zeta$ gets reduced w.r.t. to RTA. As a corollary, we then investigate the interplay among the aforesaid transport coefficients, {\em viz.} fluidity and transition point of QCD medium by evaluating the ratios, $\eta/s$ and $\zeta/s$, respectively, nature of flow (Reynolds number, RI), sound attenuation (Prandtl number, Pr), and competition between the momentum and charge diffusion ($\gamma$) etc. as further plausible tools to decipher the same. With BGK collision integral, the ratios, $\eta/s$ (increase) and $\zeta/s$ (decrease) shows opposite behavior whereas Pr, RI, $\gamma$ and the ratio $\zeta/\eta$ get reduced w.r.t RTA. We then examine how a strong $B$ modulate the impact of collision integral, which, in a way, explore the dimensionality dependence of the momentum transport because the quark dynamics gets restricted to 1-D only and only the lowest Landau levels are populated. As a result, $\eta$ ($\zeta$) gets reduced (amplified), which will have ramifications on the ratios, {\em viz.} $\eta/s$ ($\zeta/s$) becomes smaller (larger), enhancement of Pr, $\gamma$ and $\zeta/\eta$ etc. In this study, the thermo-magnetic medium effects have been incorporated by adopting a quasi-particle model, where the medium generated masses of the partons have been obtained from the pole of their resummed propagators calculated using perturbative thermal QCD in strong $B$.