Relativistic hydrodynamics with spinodal decomposition

Abstract

We introduce the equations of relativistic hydrodynamics that incorporate phase separation via spinodal decomposition. These equations consider surface effects between the two phases and are applicable for simulating intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions and binary neutron star mergers, where a first-order phase transition is expected. We solve these equations in the context of Bjorken flow, which offers the relevant geometric framework for ion collisions.

Comments: 4 pages, 3 figures. Proceedings for Quark Matter 2025