Electron-phonon hydrodynamics

Abstract

We develop the theory of hydrodynamics of an isotropic Fermi liquid of electrons coupled to isotropic acoustic phonons, assuming that umklapp processes may be neglected. At low temperatures, the fluid is approximately Galilean invariant; at high temperatures, the fluid is nearly relativistic; at intermediate temperatures, there are seven additional temperature regimes with unconventional thermodynamic properties and hydrodynamic transport coefficients in a three-dimensional system. We predict qualitative signatures of electron-phonon fluids in incoherent transport coefficients, shear and Hall viscosity, and plasmon dispersion relations. Our theory may be relevant for numerous quantum materials where strong electron-phonon scattering has been proposed to underlie a hydrodynamic regime, including $\mathrm{WTe}_2$, $\mathrm{WP}_2$, and $\mathrm{PtSn}_4$.