A systematic expansion for relativistic causal hydrodynamics

A systematic expansion of the Boltzmann equation for the diffusion of dilute tracers, in powers of the Knudsen number, carried out to next-to-leading order (NLO), gives the relativistic causal diffusion equation (Kelly's equation). Using dimensionless combinations of dynamical quantities, we show when the small NLO term plays a crucially important role. We proceed to show that a derivation of Kelly's equation from a microscopic theory of the correlation function of the number density of diffusers is possible. The correlator fulfils the Green-Kubo relation for the diffusion constant, as well as an f-sum which goes beyond a purely phenomenological causal theory. We argue that the construction generalizes to the full hydrodynamic equations.