The bulk motion of nuclear matter at the ultrahigh temperatures created in heavy ion collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider is well described in terms of nearly inviscid hydrodynamics, thereby establishing this system of quarks and gluons as the most perfect fluid in nature. A revolution in the field is under way, spearheaded by the discovery of similar collective, fluid-like phenomena in much smaller systems including p+ p, p+ A, d+Au, and3He+Au collisions. We review these exciting new observations and their profound implications for hydrodynamic descriptions of small and/or out-of-equilibrium systems.
Lightening-like interactions in nuclear collisions at CERN large hadron collider
