Holography and off-center collisions of localized shock waves

Abstract: Using numerical holography, we study the collision, at non-zero impact parameter, of bounded, localized distributions of energy density chosen to mimic relativistic heavy ion collisions, in strongly coupled N = 4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Both longitudinal and transverse dynamics in the dual field theory are properly described. Using the gravitational description we solve 5D Einstein equations, without dimensionality reducing symmetry restrictions, to find the asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime geometry. Implications of our results on the understanding of early stages of heavy ion collisions, including the development of transverse radial flow, are discussed.