Minimal quantum viscosity from fundamental physical constants

Abstract

Viscosity of fluids is strongly system-dependent, varies across many orders of magnitude and depends on molecular interactions and structure in a complex way not amenable to first-principles theories. Despite the variations and theoretical difficulties, we find a new quantity setting the minimal kinematic viscosity of fluids: ${\nu }_m=\frac{1}{4\pi }\frac{\hslash }{\sqrt{m_{e}m}}$, where $m_e$ and $m$ are electron and molecule masses. We subsequently introduce a new property, the "elementary" viscosity $\iota$ with the lower bound set by fundamental physical constants and notably involving the proton-to-electron mass ratio: ${\iota }_m=\frac{\hslash }{4\pi }{\left(\frac{m_p}{m_e}\right)}^{\frac{1}{2}}$, where $m_p$ is the proton mass. We discuss the connection of our result to the bound found by Kovtun, Son and Starinets in strongly-interacting field theories.

References in corpus (8)

• Viscosity in Strongly Interacting Quantum Field Theories from Black Hole Physics
• Theory of universal incoherent metallic transport
• Collective modes and thermodynamics of the liquid state
• "Liquid-gas" transition in the supercritical region: Fundamental changes in the particle dynamics
• Planckian dissipation, minimal viscosity and the transport in cuprate strange metals
• Holographic Phonons
• Observation of quantum-limited spin transport in strongly interacting two-dimensional Fermi gases
• Universal Spin Transport and Quantum Bounds for Unitary Fermions

Cited by in corpus (44)

• Planckian Dissipation in Metals
• Transition in the supercritical state of matter: experimental evidence
• Bounds on transport from univalence and pole-skipping
• Speed of sound from fundamental physical constants
• Universal lower bounds on energy and momentum diffusion in liquids
• Revealing the supercritical dynamics of dusty plasmas and their liquid-like to gas-like dynamical crossover
• Universal Bounds on Transport in Holographic Systems with Broken Translations
• Elementary vibrational model for transport properties of dense fluids
• The Purcell question: why do all viscosities stop at the same place?
• On the universality of AdS${}_2$ diffusion bounds and the breakdown of linearized hydrodynamics
• Minima of shear viscosity and thermal conductivity coefficients of classical fluids
• Field Theory of Dissipative Systems with Gapped Momentum States
• General theory of the viscosity of liquids and solids from nonaffine particle motions
• Freezing density scaling of fluid transport properties: Application to liquefied noble gases
• Shear flows in far-from-equilibrium strongly coupled fluids
• Universal bound to the amplitude of the vortex Nernst signal in superconductors
• Universal interrelation between dynamics and thermodynamics of fluids: dynamically-driven "c"-transition
• Similarity between the kinematic viscosity of quark-gluon plasma and liquids at the viscosity minimum
• Theory of melting lines
• Thermodynamics and transport in molten chloride salts and their mixtures
• Viscosity and diffusion in life processes and tuning of fundamental constants
• Properties of condensed matter from fundamental physical constants
• Low temperature quantum bounds on simple models
• Aspects of univalence in holographic axion models
• Microscopic dynamics and Bose-Einstein condensation in liquid helium
• Nernst response, viscosity and mobile entropy in vortex liquids
• Constraints on fundamental physical constants from bio-friendly viscosity and diffusion
• Breaking rotations without violating the KSS viscosity bound
• Vibrational model of heat transfer in strongly coupled Yukawa fluids (dusty plasma liquids)
• Graphene's non-equilibrium fermions reveal Doppler-shifted magnetophonon resonances accompanied by Mach supersonic and Landau velocity effects
• A classical model for sub-Planckian thermal diffusivity in complex crystals
• Rotational viscosity in spin resonance of hydrodynamic electrons
• Spin imaging of Poiseuille flow of viscous electronic fluid
• Viscous Properties of Nickel-Containing Binary Metal Melts
• The Viscosity of Liquids in the Dual Model
• Holographic study of shear viscosity and butterfly velocity for magnetic field-driven quantum criticality
• Hydrodynamics of the electronic Fermi liquid: a pedagogical overview
• Dynamic duos: the building blocks of dimensional mechanics
• Viscosity bounds in liquids with different structure and bonding types
• Extrinsic and intrinsic effects setting viscosity in complex fluids and life processes: the role of fundamental physical constants
• Fundamental physical constants, operation of physical phenomena and entropy increase
• Generally applicable physics-based equation of state for liquids
• First Post-Minkowskian approach to turbulent gravity
• How heat propagates in liquid ${}^3$He