  Thanks to asteroseismology, constraints on the core rotation rate are
available for hundreds of low- and intermediate-mass stars in evolved phases.
Current physical processes tested in stellar evolution models cannot reproduce
the evolution of these core rotation rates. We investigate the efficiency of
the internal angular momentum redistribution in red giants during the hydrogen
shell and core-helium burning phases based on the asteroseismic determinations
of their core rotation rates. We compute stellar evolution models with rotation
and model the transport of angular momentum by the action of a sole dominant
diffusive process parametrized by an additional viscosity. We constrain the
values of this viscosity to match the mean core rotation rates of red giants
and their behaviour with mass and evolution along the red giant branch and in
the red clump. For red giants in the hydrogen shell-burning phase the transport
of angular momentum must be more efficient in more massive stars. The
additional viscosity is found to vary by approximately two orders of magnitude
in the mass range M $\sim$ 1 - 2.5 M$_{\odot}$. As stars evolve along the red
giant branch, the efficiency of the internal transport of angular momentum must
increase for low-mass stars (M $\lesssim$ 2 M$_{\odot}$) and remain
approximately constant for slightly higher masses (2.0 M$_{\odot}$ $\lesssim$ M
$\lesssim$ 2.5 M$_{\odot}$). In red-clump stars, the additional viscosities
must be an order of magnitude higher than in younger red giants of similar mass
during the hydrogen shell-burning phase. In combination with previous efforts,
we obtain a clear picture of how the physical processes acting in stellar
interiors should redistribute angular momentum from the end of the main
sequence until the core-helium burning phase for low- and intermediate-mass
stars to satisfy the asteroseismic constraints.
