Jorge Jose Leite Noronha, Jr

Biography

Professor Jorge Noronha received his bachelors degree in Physics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil, in 2003. After completing his M.Sc. in 2004 at the Brazilian Center for Physical Research (CBPF), he went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Physics from the Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany, in 2007. His Ph.D. thesis helped determine the properties of the ultradense matter present in the core of neutron stars in the presence of strong magnetic fields. Jorge was a postdoctoral research scientist at Columbia University in New York from 2008-2011 where he focused on the applications of string theory techniques (holographic correspondence) to investigate the dynamical properties of the quark-gluon plasma formed in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions. From 2011-2019 Jorge was a faculty member at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, where he developed novel techniques to describe out-of-equilibrium phenomena in relativistic systems under extreme conditions. Jorge joined the Physics Department at UIUC in August 2019.

Research Interests

• Quantum chromodynamics at finite temperature and density (heavy ion collisions, neutron stars).
• Relativistic fluid dynamics and kinetic theory.
• Holographic duality and its applications in strongly coupled gauge theories.

Research Statement

My research establishes connections between string theory, relativistic fluid dynamics, and kinetic theory to tackle outstanding problems in high energy nuclear theory that are beyond the reach of current first principles techniques. A prime example of this is the fluid-like behavior displayed by the quark-gluon plasma, an exotic phase of quantum chromodynamics that existed microseconds after the Big Bang in which quarks and gluons were not confined inside protons and neutrons. Tiny specks of this early Universe matter are now being copiously produced in heavy ion collision experiments, which have provided overwhelming evidence that the quark-gluon plasma flows like a nearly frictionless strongly coupled liquid over distance scales not much larger than the size of a proton. This makes the quark-gluon plasma formed in colliders the hottest, smallest, densest, most perfect fluid known to humanity. How such fluid dynamical behavior emerges from the fundamental interactions between quarks and gluons in quantum chromodynamics is one of the open problems that I want to shed light on through my research. I'm also interested in the novel properties displayed by viscous fluids in general relativity and their applications in neutron star mergers and cosmology.

Honors

• Affiliated Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (2015)
• Gernot and Frank Carin Prize (2008)

Selected Articles in Journals

• F. S. Bemfica, M. M. Disconzi and J. Noronha, Causality of the Einstein- Israel-Stewart Theory with Bulk Viscosity, Phys. Rev. Lett. 122, no. 22, 221602 (2019).
• R. Critelli, R. Rougemont and J. Noronha, Holographic Bjorken flow of a hot and dense fluid in the vicinity of a critical point, Phys. Rev. D 99, no. 6, 066004 (2019).
• F. S. Bemfica, M. M. Disconzi and J. Noronha, Causality and existence of solutions of relativistic viscous fluid dynamics with gravity, Phys. Rev. D 98, no. 10, 104064 (2018).
• G. Denicol and J. Noronha Analytical attractor and the divergence of the slow-roll expansion in relativistic hydrodynamics, Phys. Rev. D 97, no. 5, 056021 (2018).
• M. Strickland, J. Noronha and G. Denicol, The anisotropic non-equilibrium hydrodynamic attractor, Phys. Rev. D. 97 (2018) no.3, 036020.
• R. Critelli, J. Noronha, J. Noronha-Hostler, I. Portillo, C. Ratti and R. Rougemont, Critical point in the phase diagram of primordial quark-gluon matter from black hole physics, Phys. Rev. D 96 (2017) no.9, 096026.
• A. Buchel, M. P. Heller and J. Noronha, Entropy Production, Hydrodynamics, and Resurgence in the Primordial Quark-Gluon Plasma from Holography, Phys. Rev. D 94, no. 10, 106011 (2016).
• D. Bazow, G. S. Denicol, U. Heinz, M. Martinez and J. Noronha, Analytic solution of the Boltzmann equation in an expanding system, Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 022301 (2016).
• R. Rougemont, J. Noronha, and J. Noronha-Hostler, Suppression of baryon diffusion and transport in a baryon rich strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 202301 (2015).
• S. I. Finazzo, R. Rougemont, H. Marrochio and J. Noronha, Hydrodynamic transport coefficients for the non-conformal quark-gluon plasma from holography, JHEP 1502, 051 (2015).
• H. Marrochio, J. Noronha, G. S. Denicol, M. Luzum, S. Jeon and C. Gale, Solutions of Conformal Israel-Stewart Relativistic Viscous Fluid Dynamics, Phys. Rev. C 91, no. 1, 014903 (2015).
• G. S. Denicol, U. W. Heinz, M. Martinez, J. Noronha and M. Strickland, New Exact Solution of the Relativistic Boltzmann Equation and its Hydrodynamic Limit, Phys. Rev. Lett. 113, no. 20, 202301 (2014).