How Lorentz boosts reshape relaxation spectra
arXiv:2601.03081 · doi:10.1103/d2xr-rj7g
Abstract
In relativity, relaxation processes are often assumed to undergo time dilation under Lorentz boosts. We show that this intuition fails generically. Due to relativity of simultaneity, Lorentz boosts can split a single relaxation mode into a continuum of excitations, with a width set by the maximal signal propagation speed. Focusing on linearized relativistic (kinetic or rheological) theories with an Onsager-type symmetry, we derive rigorous bounds on relaxation spectra in arbitrary inertial frames, expressed solely in terms of rest-frame spectral data at zero wavenumber. As a consequence, non-hydrodynamic gaps, maximal relaxation rates, and the convergence radii of hydrodynamic modes obey nontrivial Lorentz-covariant constraints. These results provide a unified framework for understanding how relativity constrains relaxation dynamics in many-body systems.
6 pages and 2 figures (main text) + 6 pages and 3 figures (supplementary material), published in PRL (see https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/d2xr-rj7g)