Derivation of Stokes' Law from Kirkwood's Formula and the Green-Kubo Formula via Large Deviation Theory

Masato Itami, Shin-ichi Sasa

Published 2015-05-07Version 1

We study the friction coefficient of a macroscopic sphere in a viscous fluid at low Reynolds number. First, Kirkwood's formula for the friction coefficient is reviewed on the basis of the Hamiltonian description of particle systems. According to the formula, the friction coefficient is expressed in terms of the stress correlation on the surface of the sphere. Then, with the aid of large deviation theory, we relate the surface stress correlation to the stress correlation in the bulk of the fluid, where the latter is characterized by the viscosity in the Green-Kubo formula. Namely, by combining Kirkwood's formula and the Green-Kubo formula in large deviation theory, we derive Stokes' law without explicitly employing the hydrodynamic equations.