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APS » Journals » Phys. Rev. C » Volume 78 » Issue 4
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Phys. Rev. C 78, 041901(R) (2008) [5 pages]

Sonic Mach cones induced by fast partons in a perturbative quark-gluon plasma

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R. B. Neufeld1, B. Müller1, and J. Ruppert2,3
1Department of Physics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA
2Institut für Theoretische Physik, J. W. Goethe-Universität, D-60054 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
3Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2T8, Canada

Received 21 February 2008; revised 16 April 2008; published 13 October 2008

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We derive the space-time distribution of energy and momentum deposited by a fast parton traversing a weakly coupled quark-gluon plasma by treating the fast parton as the source of an external color field perturbing the medium. We then use our result as a source term for the linearized hydrodynamical equations of the medium. We show that the solution contains a sonic Mach cone and a dissipative wake if the parton moves at a supersonic speed.

© 2008 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevC.78.041901
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevC.78.041901
PACS:
12.38.Mh, 25.75.Ld, 25.75.Bh
 
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