No Arabic abstract
In this paper we show how using a relativistic kinetic equation the ensuing expression for the heat flux can be casted in the form required by Classical Irreversible Thermodynamics. Indeed, it is linearly related to the temperature and number density gradients and not to the acceleration as the so called textit{first order in the gradients} theories propose. Since the specific expressions for the transport coefficients are irrelevant for our purposes, the BGK form of the kinetic equation is used. Moreover, from the resulting hydrodynamic equations it is readily seen that the equilibrium state is stable in the presence of the spontaneous fluctuations in the transverse hydrodynamic velocity mode of the simple relativistic fluid. The implications of this result are thoroughly discussed.
Richard C. Tolman analyzed the relation between a temperature gradient and a gravitational field in an equilibrium situation. In 2012, Tolmantextquoteright s law was generalized to a non-equilibrium situation for a simple dilute relativistic fluid. The result in that scenario, obtained by introducing the gravitational force through the molecular acceleration, couples the heat flux with the metric coefficients and the gradients of the state variables. In the present paper it is shown, by textquotedblleft suppressingtextquotedblright{} the molecular acceleration in Boltzmanntextquoteright s equation, that a gravitational field drives a heat flux. This procedure corresponds to the description of particle motion through geodesics, in which a Newtonian limit to the Schwarzschild metric is assumed. The effect vanishes in the non-relativistic regime, as evidenced by the direct evaluation of the corresponding limit.
We consider the non-relativistic limit of gravity in four dimensions in the first order formalism. First, we revisit the case of the Einstein-Hilbert action and formally discuss some geometrical configurations in vacuum and in the presence of matter at leading order. Second, we consider the more general Mardones-Zanelli action and its non-relativistic limit. The field equations and some interesting geometries, in vacuum and in the presence of matter, are formally obtained. Remarkably, in contrast to the Einstein-Hilbert limit, the set of field equations is fully determined because the boost connection appears in the action and field equations. It is found that the cosmological constant must disappear in the non-relativistic Mardones-Zanelli action at leading order. The conditions for Newtonian absolute time be acceptable are also discussed. It turns out that Newtonian absolute time can be safely implemented with reasonable conditions.
We present the first numerical solutions of the causal, stable relativistic Navier-Stokes equations as formulated by Bemfica, Disconzi, Noronha, and Kovtun (BDNK). For this initial investigation we restrict to plane-symmetric configurations of a conformal fluid in Minkowski spacetime. We consider evolution of three classes of initial data: a smooth (initially) stationary concentration of energy, a standard shock tube setup, and a smooth shockwave setup. We compare these solutions to those obtained with the Muller-Israel-Stewart (MIS) formalism, variants of which are the common tools used to model relativistic, viscous fluids. We find that for the two smooth initial data cases, simple finite difference methods are adequate to obtain stable, convergent solutions to the BDNK equations. For low viscosity, the MIS and BDNK evolutions show good agreement. At high viscosity the solutions begin to differ in regions with large gradients, and there the BDNK solutions can (as expected) exhibit violation of the weak energy condition. This behavior is transient, and the solutions evolve toward a hydrodynamic regime in a way reminiscent of an approach to a universal attractor. For the shockwave problem, we give evidence that if a hydrodynamic frame is chosen so that the maximum characteristic speed of the BDNK system is the speed of light (or larger), arbitrarily strong shockwaves are smoothly resolved. Regarding the shock tube problem, it is unclear whether discontinuous initial data is mathematically well-posed for the BDNK system, even in a weak sense. Nevertheless we attempt numerical solution, and then need to treat the perfect fluid terms using high-resolution shock-capturing methods. When such methods can successfully evolve the solution beyond the initial time, subsequent evolution agrees with corresponding MIS solutions, as well as the perfect fluid solution in the limit of zero viscosity.
We extend the general relativistic Lagrangian perturbation theory, recently developed for the formation of cosmic structures in a dust continuum, to the case of model universes containing a single fluid with a single-valued analytic equation of state. Using a coframe-based perturbation approach, we investigate evolution equations for structure formation in pressure-supported irrotational fluids that generate their rest-frame spacetime foliation. We provide master equations to first order for the evolution of the trace and traceless parts of barotropic perturbations that evolve in the perturbed space, where the latter describes the propagation of gravitational waves in the fluid. We illustrate the trace evolution for a linear equation of state and for a model equation of state describing isotropic velocity dispersion, and we discuss differences to the dust matter model, to the Newtonian case, and to standard perturbation approaches.
Working within the post-Newtonian (PN) approximation to General Relativity, we use the effective field theory (EFT) framework to study the conservative dynamics of the two-body motion at fourth PN order, at fifth order in the Newton constant. This is one of the missing pieces preventing the computation of the full Lagrangian at fourth PN order using EFT methods. We exploit the analogy between diagrams in the EFT gravitational theory and 2-point functions in massless gauge theory, to address the calculation of 4-loop amplitudes by means of standard multi-loop diagrammatic techniques. For those terms which can be directly compared, our result confirms the findings of previous studies, performed using different methods.