{
  "abstract": "The quantitative success of relativistic viscous hydrodynamics in describing the short-lived quark--gluon plasma raises a fundamental question: how does far-from-equilibrium QCD matter approach hydrodynamic behavior so rapidly? Microscopic kinetic-theory studies have related this onset to attractor dynamics, but typically assume transverse homogeneity. We relax this assumption by introducing gradient modes with finite transverse wave number $k$, extending the analysis of arXiv:2212.00820. These couple different spherical harmonics of the momentum distribution, and the resulting dynamics is controlled by the competition among the expansion rate $1/τ$, the collision rate $1/τ_R$, and the gradient scale $k$. At early times, longitudinal expansion suppresses this coupling, and different spherical harmonic sectors follow their homogeneous attractors. We find that, at later times and sufficiently small $k$, this gradient coupling drives the system toward a global attractor manifold spanned by hydrodynamic sound and shear modes, on a timescale $τ_D$ that depends on both the azimuthal harmonic $m$ and $kτ_R$. For sufficiently large $kτ_R$, the spectral gap closes: perturbations retain finite damping rates and therefore equilibrate, but no longer follow an isolated hydrodynamic attractor or admit a reduced description involving only a few hydrodynamic modes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.20705",
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Uri Sharell"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jasmine Brewer"
    },
    {
      "name": "Weiyao Ke"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cx8cfac9y9amb.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.20705",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "cx8cfac9y9amb",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20705",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "nucl-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|High-Energy Particle Collisions Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7213592832",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.20705",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-17",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cx8cfac9y9amb.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:19Z",
      "native_id": "2609.20705",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.20705"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:nucl-th",
      "subfield": "nuclear"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Adiabatic hydrodynamization with transverse spatial gradients in boost-invariant plasmas",
  "title_text": "Adiabatic hydrodynamization with transverse spatial gradients in boost-invariant plasmas",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:19Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cx8cfac9y9amb",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}