Abstract

CHACON-ACOSTA, G. Cien años de la función de distribución de Jüttner para el gas relativista. Rev. mex. fis. [online]. 2012, vol.58, n.2, pp.117-126. ISSN 0035-001X.

In 2011 marks a century that Ferencz Jüttner obtained the distribution function for the relativistic gas. This distribution was involved in a controversy that lasted nearly a century and was related to the foundations of relativistic thermodynamics. In this paper it is done a brief review of what happened in the last hundred years around the relativistic Jüttner distribution. It is described part of the Jüttner's original work, the circumstances under which he obtain his distribution as well as the particular characteristics of it compared with those od the well known Maxwell-Boltzmann equilibrium distribution for the non-relativistic gas. In the final sections, there are listed the main applications of the Jüttner distribution, from the work of Chandrasekhar to the quark-gluon plasma. There are also discussed the most recent developments that suggest a solution to the controversy that was surrounded the relativistic distribution.

Keywords : Special relativity; thermodynamics; kinetic theory of gases; hydrodynamics.