Thermodynamic equilibrium in general relativity

Abstract

The thermodynamic equilibrium condition for a static self-gravitating fluid in the Einstein theory is defined by the Tolman-Ehrenfest temperature law, Tg00(xi)=constant, according to which the proper temperature depends explicitly on the position within the medium through the metric coefficient g00(xi). By assuming the validity of Tolman-Ehrenfest "pocket temperature," Klein also proved a similar relation for the chemical potential, namely, μg00(xi)=constant. In this paper we prove that a more general relation uniting both quantities holds regardless of the equation of state satisfied by the medium, and that the original Tolman-Ehrenfest law form is valid only if the chemical potential vanishes identically. In the general case of equilibrium, the temperature and the chemical potential are intertwined in such a way that only a definite (position dependent) relation uniting both quantities is obeyed. As an illustration of these results, the temperature expressions for an isothermal gas (finite spherical distribution) and a neutron star are also determined.