Far-from-equilibrium search for the QCD critical point*

Theoretical uncertainty remains about the correct description of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) near the conjectured quantum chromodynamics (QCD) critical point. As a first approach, we use a 0+1D hydrodynamic model with full shear and bulk viscosity coupled to an equation of state the contains a critical point using a 3D Ising model.  Then we vary the size of the critical region, specifically looking at interesting behaviors of the speed of sound (that should diverge to zero at the critical point) that in turn affects the magnitude of the bulk viscosity.  Varying then the initial conditions in terms of how far-from-equilibrium that the system begins, we are able to generate a band of potential hydrodynamic trajectories for different types of critical points to study various properties of the QGP such as the effective pressure, Knudsen and Reynolds numbers, and lifetime of the system.