Thermodynamic Stability Implies Causality

The stability conditions of a relativistic hydrodynamic theory can be derived directly from the requirement that the entropy should be maximized in equilibrium. Here, we use a simple geometrical argument to prove that, if the hydrodynamic theory is stable according to this entropic criterion, then localized perturbations to the equilibrium state cannot propagate outside their future light cone. In other words, within relativistic hydrodynamics, acausal theories must be thermodynamically unstable, at least close to equilibrium. We show that the physical origin of this deep connection between stability and causality lies in the relationship between entropy and information. Our result may be interpreted as an “equilibrium conservation theorem,” which generalizes the Hawking-Ellis vacuum conservation theorem to finite temperature and chemical potential.