Spin-thermal shear coupling in relativistic nuclear collisions

Abstract: The spin polarization measurements of particles emitted in heavy-ion collisions have opened the possibility for new phenomenological investigations of spin physics in relativistic fluids. The theoretical predictions of global polarization are in agreement with the data, but consistent discrepancies stand out for the local polarization. We show that the covariant theory of relativistic quantum fluids at local equilibrium implies an additional, non-dissipative contribution to the spin polarization vector, which is proportional to the thermal shear, which has been previously overlooked. This additional contribution, together with an improved approximation in the expansion of the local equilibrium density operator, restores the quantitative agreement between the theoretical predictions and the experimental data.