We now provide our first detailed derivation of the hydrodynamics of lattice gases. To keep matters from becoming unnecessarily complicated, we mostly restrict the discussion in this chapter to two-dimensional (2D) models. We begin with the simplest possible 2D model on a square lattice. We then repeat the calculation for the hexagonal lattice model. The principal result of this chapter is the derivation of the Euler equation of both models. This equation has the form already indicated in Chapter 2 but here the unknown coefficients are explicitly calculated. For future use we also include a general calculation in arbitrary dimension D and with an arbitrary number of rest particles.

The hydrodynamic behavior that we thus find at the macroscopic scale is a consequence of the existence of a kind of thermodynamic equilibrium. This equilibrium state is described by the Fermi-Dirac distribution of statistical mechanics. How this distribution arises is described in detail in Chapters 14 and 15. In this chapter we give a simpler derivation of some properties of equilibrium, which are sufficient to obtain the Euler equation.

Homogeneous equilibrium distribution on the square lattice

Our first task is to calculate 〈ni〉, the average value of the Boolean variable ni introduced in Section 2.6. Repeated applications of the rules of propagation and collision in the lattice gas cause these average particle populations to quickly reach an equilibrium state regardless of initial conditions.