Viscous hydrodynamics from correlated losses

Abstract

Interactions turn a gas into a fluid. We show that two-body loss can take their place. Correlated loss induces elastic scattering, as required by the optical theorem, which dominates at strong loss via the quantum Zeno effect. A nondegenerate gas with only two-body loss thus flows hydrodynamically, with viscosity and thermal conductivity close to those of the unitary Fermi gas. As loss heats the gas, both grow in time with a universal exponent 3/8. Unlike single-particle loss, two-body loss can engineer collisions, and hence transport, in quantum matter.

4 pages, 3 figures; Supplementary Material: 19 pages, 2 figures