Thermodynamic stability implies causality [CL]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2105.14621


The stability conditions of a relativistic hydrodynamic theory can be derived directly from the requirement that the entropy should be maximised in equilibrium. Here we use a simple geometrical argument to prove that, if the hydrodynamic theory is stable according to this entropic criterion, then localised perturbations cannot propagate outside their future light-cone. In other words, within relativistic hydrodynamics, acausal theories must be thermodynamically unstable. We show that the physical origin of this deep connection between stability and causality lies in the relationship between entropy and information.

Read this paper on arXiv…

L. Gavassino, M. Antonelli and B. Haskell
Tue, 1 Jun 21
63/72

Comments: 9 pages, 2 figures