First-order relativistic hydrodynamics with an information current

Abstract

We show that it is possible to define a timelike future-directed information current within relativistic first-order hydrodynamics. This constitutes the first step toward a covariantly stable and causal formulation of first-order fluctuating hydrodynamics based on thermodynamic principles. We provide several explicit examples of first-order theories with an information current, covering many physical phenomena, ranging from electric conduction to viscosity and elasticity. We use these information currents to compute the corresponding equal-time correlation functions, and we find that the physically relevant (equal-time) correlators do not depend on the choice of the hydrodynamic frame as long as the frame leads to causal and stable dynamics. In the example of chiral hydrodynamics, we find that circularly polarized shear waves have different probabilities of being excited depending on their handedness, generating net helicity in chiral fluids.