String Theory seminar - Benjamin Withers Seminar

I will discuss collective modes which describe the approach to asymptotic equilibrium in steady states of strongly interacting many body systems. These modes can be thought of as time independent analogues of quasinormal modes, which imprint a spatial ringdown pattern on the steady state. I will construct these modes in both hydrodynamics and holography and demonstrate their role in holographic non-equilibrium steady states corresponding to steady flows past obstacles.