Perturbative approaches in relativistic kinetic theory and the emergence of first-order hydrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper explores perturbative expansions in relativistic kinetic theory, deriving first-order hydrodynamics formulations like BDNK from kinetic theory, and compares their evolution and attractors with other models.

Contribution

It systematically derives the BDNK hydrodynamic formulation from relativistic kinetic theory using a new relaxation time approximation.

Findings

Explicitly computed BDNK transport coefficients.

Determined hydrodynamic attractors under Bjorken flow.

Compared BDNK evolution with Israel-Stewart and kinetic theory.

Abstract

Hydrodynamics can be formulated in terms of a perturbative series in derivatives of the temperature, chemical potential, and flow velocity around an equilibrium state. Different formulations for this series have been proposed over the years, which consequently led to the development of various hydrodynamic theories. In this work, we discuss the relativistic generalizations of the perturbative expansions put forward by Chapman and Enskog, and Hilbert, using general matching conditions in kinetic theory. This allows us to describe, in a comprehensive way, how different out-of-equilibrium definitions for the hydrodynamic fields affect the development of the hydrodynamic perturbative series. We provide a perturbative method for systematically deriving the hydrodynamic formulation recently proposed by Bemfica, Disconzi, Noronha, and Kovtun (BDNK) from relativistic kinetic theory. The various transport coefficients that appear in BDNK (at first-order) are explicitly computed using a new formulation of the relaxation time approximation for the Boltzmann equation. Assuming Bjorken flow, we also determine the hydrodynamic attractors of BDNK theory and compare the overall hydrodynamic evolution obtained using this formulation with that generated by the Israel-Stewart equations of motion and also kinetic theory.