Kinetic Theory of Relativistic Temperature in Self-Gravitating Systems

Abstract: Temperature is a key physical observable at the foundation of both fundamental research and technological applications. However, defining temperature within a relativistic framework remains challenging due to the difficulty of testing thermodynamic laws in this context and the technical complexity of formulating a kinetic theory consistent with Einstein's field equations. Consequently, the transformation law of temperature between inertial frames also remains unresolved. In this study, we introduce a kinetic definition of temperature for an ensemble of self-gravitating particles, assuming that temperature reflects the average spatial kinetic energy of a particle. This kinetic temperature, which applies outside of equilibrium, naturally reduces to the familiar special relativistic and non-relativistic temperatures in appropriate limits. Moreover, it exhibits the Tolman-Ehrenfest effect, linking temperature to the norm of the Killing field associated with coordinate time. We further demonstrate that, when particle speeds are non-relativistic, the transformation law for kinetic temperature follows the Ott-Arzeli`es formula, suggesting that in this regime, a moving body appears hotter. However, when particle speeds are relativistic, the transformation of kinetic temperature depends on both the relative speed of the frames and the particle distribution.