Kinetic theory of the plasma-dynamical modes and the transport coefficients of a relativistic plasma

The kinetic equation of an inhomogeneous relativistic plasma, consisting of an electron gas and a radiation field, is studied with particular regard to its eigenvalues in the hydrodynamical limit. The treatment is classical for the particles and quantum-mechanical for the field oscillators.After a suitable regularization, the eigenvalues are obtained by a perturbation theory through second order in the strength of the gradients. It is shown that these eigenvalues are in exact correspondence with the macroscopic relativistic plasma-dynamical modes. The important role played by the Vlassov operator in building up the peculiar structure of these modes is underlined. From a comparison of the macroscopic and microscopic eigenvalues we obtain general expressions for the thermal conductivity, the shear viscosity and the bulk viscosity of a relativistic plasma. The contribution of the radiation field to these quantities is a noteworthy feature of these expressions.