No Einstein Relation, No Problem: How Relativistic Weakly Coupled Heavy Quarks Equilibrate Beyond Leading Logarithm Anyway

Abstract

Relativistic heavy quarks equilibrate even when their microscopic drag and momentum diffusion violate the Einstein relation. We investigate how equilibration proceeds as a function of the coupling and compared to simplified Fokker-Planck models. To do this, we present a detailed calculation of the momentum-transfer kernel in weakly coupled non-Abelian plasmas through strict $\mathcal{O}(g^4)$, and study the resulting dynamics at leading order in the inverse heavy-quark mass. Beyond leading logarithm, its non-Gaussian structure plays a crucial role in equilibration. We examine closely the analytic structure of the evolution kernel, determine the large-order asymptotics of the momentum-transfer cumulants, and show how the kernel's bounded analytic domain fixes asymmetric exponential tails at the level of the momentum transfer probability. Strongly coupled $\mathcal{N}=4$ SYM also features an approximately Gaussian core and exponential tails, but differs in the nature of the kernel's singularities and the velocity dependence of the transport coefficients and tail exponents. These differences have distinct dynamical consequences: for the parameters studied, the persistence of the relativistic population in steeply falling spectra is largely explained by drag alone at very weak coupling, whereas fluctuation-induced survivor bias produces a large relative enhancement at strong coupling. Nevertheless, the shared qualitative structure between weak and strong coupling points the way towards a practical phenomenological description of heavy quarks anchored in first-principles field theory.