Is there a "most perfect fluid" consistent with quantum field theory?

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether quantum field theory inherently enforces a universal lower bound on the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio, finding that certain metastable fluids can violate this bound within a consistent relativistic quantum framework.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a metastable gas of heavy mesons in QCD can serve as a counterexample to the proposed universal bound on $ta/s$, challenging previous conjectures.

Findings

Heavy meson gases can violate the $ta/s$ bound.

Quantum field theory does not necessarily impose a lower limit on $ta/s$.

Metastable fluids can exist within a relativistic quantum framework while violating the bound.

Abstract

It was recently conjectured that the ratio of the shear viscosity to entropy density, $ \eta/ s$, for any fluid always exceeds $\hbar/(4 \pi k_B)$. This conjecture was motivated by quantum field theoretic results obtained via the AdS/CFT correspondence and from empirical data with real fluids. A theoretical counterexample to this bound can be constructed from a nonrelativistic gas by increasing the number of species in the fluid while keeping the dynamics essentially independent of the species type. The question of whether the underlying structure of relativistic quantum field theory generically inhibits the realization of such a system and thereby preserves the possibility of a universal bound is considered here. Using rather conservative assumptions, it is shown here that a metastable gas of heavy mesons in a particular controlled regime of QCD provides a realization of the counterexample and is consistent with a well-defined underlying relativistic quantum field theory. Thus, quantum field theory appears to impose no lower bound on $\eta/s$, at least for metastable fluids.