Shear viscosity of hot QCD from transport theory and thermal field theory in real time formalism

TL;DR

This paper calculates the shear viscosity of hot QCD using transport theory and thermal field theory, demonstrating the equivalence of the integral equation for the vertex with the linearized Boltzmann equation, including non-perturbative corrections.

Contribution

It establishes a formal connection between the integral equation for the retarded three-point function and the linearized Boltzmann equation in hot QCD, incorporating non-perturbative effects.

Findings

Shear viscosity can be expressed via a retarded three-point function.

The integral equation for the vertex matches the linearized Boltzmann equation.

Non-perturbative corrections are included through ladder diagram resummation.

Abstract

We study shear viscosity in weakly coupled hot pure gauge field QCD theory basing on transport theory and the Kubo formula using the closed time path formalism (CTP) of real time finite temperature field theory. We show that the viscosity can be obtained as the integral of a retarded three-point function. Non-perturbative corrections to the bare one loop result can be obtained by solving a Schwinger-Dyson type integral equation for this vertex. This integral equation represents the resummation of an infinite series of ladder diagrams which all contribute to the leading-log order result. We show that this integral equation has exactly the same form as the linearized Boltzmann equation and explain the reason behind this formal equality.