Kinetic theory for a relativistic charged gas: mathematical foundations of the hydrodynamic limit and first-order results within the projection method

Abstract

This work derives first-order constitutive equations for a relativistic charged gas using the Chapman–Enskog expansion of near-equilibrium solutions to the Boltzmann equation, implemented via a novel projection method. The analysis is performed in an arbitrary fixed background spacetime with an external electromagnetic field. Based on a detailed study of the linearized collision operator, we identify the trace-fixed particle frame as the most natural choice for constructing dissipative relativistic fluid theories from kinetic theory. In this frame, the state variables are defined by matching the lowest order moments of the one-particle distribution function with those of the Jüttner equilibrium distribution. The corresponding constitutive relations are obtained, and the associated transport coefficients are shown to be frame-independent when properly defined. We also identify an additional freedom, referred to as representation freedom, and show how both the representation and frame freedoms can be implemented at the microscopic level within the projection method. This allows for a systematic derivation of general first-order constitutive equations starting from the ones obtained in the trace-fixed particle frame. For suitable parameter choices, the resulting fluid theory is strongly hyperbolic, causal, and admits stable global equilibrium states.