Hosted by: Soeren Schlichting

Early fluid-dynamical calculations of direct photon spectra and momentum anisotropy were found to be systematically smaller than measurements from the RHIC and the LHC, an observation that became known as the "direct photon puzzle". I will show that the use of a modern hydrodynamical model of heavy ion collisions and of the latest photon emission rates greatly improves agreement with both ALICE and PHENIX data, supporting the idea that thermal photons are the dominant source of direct photon momentum anisotropy in heavy ion collisions. The event-by-event hydrodynamical model used includes, for the first time, both shear and bulk viscosities, along with second order couplings between the two viscosities. Calculations using different photon emission rates will be shown, including one that takes into account the effect of confinement on photon emission. The effect of both shear and bulk viscosities on the photon rates will be shown to have a measurable effect on the photon momentum anisotropy.