Mathematical foundations and numerical simulations of BDNK hydrodynamics: from heavy-ion collisions to astrophysics

Abstract

We present new developments in the mathematical foundations and numerical simulations of the causal and stable first-order relativistic viscous hydrodynamic theory by Bemfica, Disconzi, Noronha, and Kovtun (BDNK) in general spacetimes. We develop two independent flux-conservative algorithms for arbitrary 3+1-dimensional spacetime metrics. Both are hyperbolic, causal, and well-posed, pass convergence tests, and reproduce known results. The first uses a new first-order reduction with mathematically preserved constraints, whose numerical violations can be handled with cleaning fields (the resulting coupled system is proven hyperbolic and well-posed). The second uses a new mixed-order formulation, whose solutions are proven strictly equivalent to the original BDNK system, without cleaning fields. Our proofs rely on a new general theorem providing sufficient conditions for transforming a mixed-order system with arbitrary-order equations into a strictly hyperbolic system, strengthening a classical result by Choquet Bruhat for weak hyperbolicity. We introduce a new practical prescription for selecting admissible hydrodynamic frames for a broad class of equations of state, including nonconformal ones relevant to heavy-ion collisions and astrophysics. Our simulations capture viscous shock broadening and suppression of Kelvin--Helmholtz vortices, reproduce Bjorken and Gubser flows, and study departures from stationary ideal-fluid configurations in Michel accretion and rotating tori on fixed Schwarzschild and Kerr backgrounds. For heavy-ion collisions, we perform boost invariant simulations with a lattice-QCD-based equation of state and fluctuating TRENTo initial conditions, comparing BDNK with a minimal Israel--Stewart theory. The descriptions agree at small shear viscosity but can differ substantially at larger viscosities, particularly for early initialization with rapid longitudinal expansion.

arXiv comment168 pages, 39 figures, 2 tables