The algebraic structure of the gradient expansion in linearised classical hydrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper explores the algebraic structure of gradient expansions in linearized classical hydrodynamics, identifying invariances and transformations that classify equivalent theories and connect them to microscopic models.

Contribution

It introduces and formalizes 'on-shell' transformations, revealing the algebraic structure and invariants of hydrodynamic theories at arbitrary order.

Findings

Identifies universal effects of transformations on dispersion relations and correlation functions.

Constructs invariants matching microscopic theories.

Shows transformations form a nilpotent Lie group.

Abstract

In this work, we systematically treat the ambiguities that generically arise in the gradient expansion of any hydrodynamic theory. While these ambiguities do not affect the physical content of the equations, they induce two types of transformations in the space of transport coefficients. The first type is known as the 'frame' transformations, and amounts to field redefinitions. The second type, which we introduce and formalise here, we term the 'on-shell' transformations. This identifies equivalence classes of hydrodynamic theories that provide an equally valid low-energy description of the underlying microscopic theory. We show that in any (classical) theory of hydrodynamics (at arbitrary order in derivatives), the action of such transformations on the dispersion relations and two-point correlation functions is universal. We explicitly construct invariants which can then be matched to a microscopic theory. Among them are, expectedly, the low-momentum expansions of the hydrodynamic modes. The (unphysical) gapped modes can, however, be added or removed at will. Finally, we show that such transformations assign a nilpotent Lie group to every hydrodynamic theory, and discuss the related algebraic properties underlying classical hydrodynamics.