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I am reading a paper, and I came across the Green-Kubo formulation, where the conductivity $\sigma$ of charged particles is related to the time correlation function of the $z$-component of the collective ionic current $J_z(t)$:

$$\sigma_{GK} = \frac{1}{V k_B T} \int_0^{\infty} dt \; C_{JJ}(t)$$

where $C_{JJ}(t) = \langle J_z(0) J_z(t) \rangle$ and the collective current along the $z$ direction is $J_z(t) = \sum_{i=1}^N q_i v_{z, i}(t)$. $V$ is the volume of the system and $q_i$ and $v_{z, i}$ are the charge and $z$-component of the velocity of the $i$th charged particle. $\langle ... \rangle$ is an equilibrium ensemble average.

My question is, what is the time correlation function? Is the time correlation function $C_{JJ}(t) = \langle J_z(0) J_z(t) \rangle$? Or is the time correlation function the integral: $\int_0^{\infty} dt \; C_{JJ}(t)$?

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  • $\begingroup$ Excellent question Andrew! Just so you know, it's normal not to "sign" questions here because there is a link to your profile in the bottom right of every question that serves as a signature of sorts. So I edited out that part of your post. $\endgroup$
    – David Z
    Commented May 8, 2012 at 6:41

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Your first answer is the correct one. The temporal auto-correlation function (or the time correlation function) of a fluctuating quantity $A(t)$ is $$C_{AA}(\tau) = \langle A(t) A(t+\tau)\rangle$$ This is a measure of how correlated $A(t)$ is to its value at another time $t+\tau$.

The Green-Kubo formula that connects a response function (the electrical conductivity in your case) to the time-integral of a correlation function (the current correlation function in your case) is a general result of linear response theory.

See this as well.

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