A fluctuating lattice Boltzmann formulation based on orthogonal central moments

Abstract: Thermal fluctuations play a central role in fluid dynamics at mesoscopic scales and must be incorporated into numerical schemes in a manner consistent with statistical mechanics. In this work, we develop a fluctuating lattice Boltzmann formulation based on an orthogonal central-moments-based representation. Stochastic forcing is introduced directly in the space of central moments (CMs) and consistently paired with mode-dependent relaxation, yielding a discrete kinetic model that satisfies the fluctuation-dissipation theorem exactly at the lattice level. Owing to the orthogonality of the basis, the equilibrium covariance matrix of the central moments is diagonal, and each non-conserved mode can be interpreted as an independent discrete Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process with variance fixed by equilibrium thermodynamics. The resulting formulation guarantees exact equipartition of kinetic energy at equilibrium, preserves Galilean invariance, and retains the enhanced numerical stability characteristic of CMs-based collision operators. Explicit fluctuating schemes are constructed for the D2Q9 and D3Q27 lattices. The extension to reduced-velocity discretisation is discussed too. A comprehensive set of numerical tests verifies correct thermalisation, isotropy of equilibrium statistics, and the expected scaling of velocity fluctuations with thermal energy, density, and relaxation time. In contrast to fluctuating BGK formulations, the present method remains stable and well posed in the over-relaxation regime, including in the immediate vicinity of the stability limit. These results demonstrate that CMs-based lattice Boltzmann methods provide a natural and robust framework for fluctuating hydrodynamics, in which dissipation, noise, and kinetic mode structure are consistently aligned at the discrete level.