Entropy dissipation and moment production for the Boltzmann equation

LetH(f/M)=flog(f/M)dv be the relative entropy off and the Maxwellian with the same mass, momentum, and energy, and denote the corresponding entropy dissipation term in the Boltzmann equation byD(f)=Q(f,f) logf dv. An example is presented which shows that |D(f)/H(f/M)| can be arbitrarily small. This example is a sequence of isotropic functions, and the estimates are very explicitly given by a simple formula forD which holds for such functions. The paper also gives a simplified proof of the so-called Povzner inequality, which is a geometric inequality for the magnitudes of the velocities before and after an elastic collision. That inequality is then used to prove that f(v) |v|^s dt<C(t), wheref is the solution of the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation. HereC(t) is an explicitly given function dependings and the mass, energy, and entropy of the initial data.     

On weak and strong convergence to equilibrium for solutions to the linear Boltzmann equation

This paper considers the linear space-inhomogeneous Boltzmann equation for a distribution function in a bounded domain with general boundary conditions together with an external potential force. The paper gives results on strong convergence to equilibrium, whent, for general initial data; first in the cutoff case, and then for infinite-range collision forces. The proofs are based on the properties of translation continuity and weak convergence to equilibrium. To handle these problems generalH-theorems (concerning monotonicity in time of convex entropy functionals) are presented. Furthermore, the paper gives general results on collision invariants, i.e., on functions satisfying detailed balance relations in a binary collision.     

On the Boltzmann equation for the Lorentz gas

We consider the Boltzmann-Grad limit for the Lorentz, or wind-tree, model. We prove that if is a fixed configuration of scatterer centers belonging to a set of full measure with respect to the Poisson distribution with parameter >0, then the evolution of an initial a.c. particle density tends in the Boltzmann-Grad limit to the solution of the Boltzmann equation for the model. As an intermediate step we prove that the process of the free path lengths and impact parameters induced by the Lebesgue measure on a small region tends to a limiting independent process.     

Global existence in L1 for the Enskog equation and convergence of the solutions to solutions of the Boltzmann equation

For the Enskog equation in a box an existence theorem is proved for initial data with finite mass, energy, and entropy. Then, by letting the diameter of the molecules go to zero, the weak convergence of solutions of the Enskog equation to solutions of the Boltzmann equation is proved.     

The homogeneous Boltzmann hierarchy and statistical solutions to the homogeneous Boltzmann equation

An existence and uniqueness result for the homogeneous Boltzmann hierarchy is proven, by exploiting the statistical solutions to the homogeneous Boltzmann equation.     

On the linearized relativistic Boltzmann equation. II. Existence of hydrodynamics

Solutions are analyzed of the linearized relativistic Boltzmann equation for initial data fromL ²(r, p) in long-time and/or small-mean-free-path limits. In both limits solutions of this equation converge to approximate ones constructed with solutions of the set of differential equations called the equations of relativistic hydrodynamics.     

信息熵、玻尔兹曼熵以及克劳修斯熵之间的关系--兼论玻尔兹曼熵和克劳修斯熵是否等价

论述了信息熵、玻尔兹曼熵以及克劳修斯熵之间的关系;由不涉及具体系统的方法从玻尔兹曼关系、信息熵推导出了克劳修斯熵的表达式;指出玻尔兹曼熵与克劳修斯熵不是等价关系,而是玻尔兹曼熵包含克劳修斯熵,信息熵又包含玻尔兹曼熵。     

On the Boltzmann-Grad limit for the Broadwell model of the Boltzmann equation

An example is given of a model dynamics for which the Broadwell model of the Boltzmann equation seems to appear in the formal stage of the Boltzmann-Grad limit, but actually does not.     

Trend to equilibrium of weak solutions of the Boltzmann equation in a slab with diffusive boundary conditions

Recently R. Illner and the author proved that, under a physically realistic truncation on the collision kernel, the Boltzmann equation in the one-dimensional slab [0, 1] with general diffusive boundary conditions at 0 and 1 has a global weak solution in the traditional sense. Here it is proved that when the Maxwellians associated with the boundary conditions atx=0 andx=1 are the same MaxwellianM _w , then the solution is uniformly bounded and tends toM _w fort.     

A method to calculate Boltzmann entropy

A method is proposed to calculate the Boltzmann non equilibrium entropy as a Taylor series expansion in terms of the successive moments of the velocity distribution function. As a first application, the entropy of the BKW solution of the Boltzmann equation is calculated for both even and odd dimensions. The properties of the entropy of the Tjon Wu modeld=2) are studied and a quantitative condition is derived, showing that the McKean conjecture is incorrect. As a second application of the method, the entropy of one of the solutions of the very hard particle model for the Boltzmann equation is also derived.     

Metrics for probability distributions and the trend to equilibrium for solutions of the Boltzmann equation

This paper deals with the trend to equilibrium of solutions to the spacehomogeneous Boltzmann equation for Maxwellian molecules with angular cutoff as well as with infinite-range forces. The solutions are considered as densities of probability distributions. The Tanaka functional is a metric for the space of probability distributions, which has previously been used in connection with the Boltzmann equation. Our main result is that, if the initial distribution possesses moments of order 2+, then the convergence to equilibrium in his metric is exponential in time. In the proof, we study the relation between several metrics for spaces of probability distributions, and relate this to the Boltzmann equation, by proving that the Fourier-transformed solutions are at least as regular as the Fourier transform of the initial data. This is also used to prove that even if the initial data only possess a second moment, then _v>R f(v, t) v² dv0 asR, and this convergence is uniform in time.     

Iterative solution of the Boltzmann equation

We define an iterative scheme to solve the nonlinear Boltzmann equation. Conservation rules are maintained at each iterative step. We apply this method to a spatially uniform and isotropic velocity distribution function on the Maxwell and very-hard-particle models. A particular example is evaluated and results are compared with the exact solution. It shows to be a very fast convergent approach.     

Lattice Boltzmann simulation for the energy and entropy of excitable systems

The internal energy and the spatiotemporal entropy of excitable systems are investigated with the lattice Boltzmann method.The numerical results show that the breakup of spiral wave is attributed to the inadequate supply of energy,i.e.,the internal energy of system is smaller than the energy of self-sustained spiral wave.It is observed that the average internal energy of a regular wave state reduces with its spatiotemporal entropy decreasing.Interestingly,although the energy difference between two regular wave states is very small,the different states can be distinguished obviously due to the large difference between their spatiotemporal entropies.In addition,when the unstable spiral wave converts into the spatiotemporal chaos,the internal energy of system decreases,while the spatiotemporal entropy increases,which behaves as the thermodynamic entropy in an isolated system.     

Discretized Boltzmann equation: Lattice limit and non-Maxwellian gases

We continue the study of a discrete model of the Boltzmann equation, in which the spatial variable is replaced by a finite periodic lattice. Using a weak compactness criterion forL ₁, the existence of a lattice limit as the lattice spacing tends to zero is proved. The case of unbounded collision kernels (non-Maxwellian gases) is also treated.This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation grant no. ENG-75 15882.On leave from Mathematisches Institut der Universität München, Federal Republic of Germany     

Quantum corrections for Boltzmann equation

We present the lowest order quantum correction to the semiclassical Boltzmann distribution function, and the equation satisfied by this correction is given. Our equation for the quantum correction is obtained from the conventional quantum Boltzmann equation by explicitly expressing the Planck constant in the gradient approximation, and the quantum Wigner distribution function is expanded in powers of Planck constant, too. The negative quantum correlation in the Wigner distribution function which is just the quantum correction terms is naturally singled out, thus obviating the need for the Husimi’s coarse grain averaging that is usually done to remove the negative quantum part of the Wigner distribution function. We also discuss the classical limit of quantum thermodynamic entropy in the above framework. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10404037) and the Scientific Research Fund of GUCAS (Grant No. 055101BM03)     

Half-space problem of the Boltzmann equation for charged particles

For two particular collision kernels, we explicitly solve the one-dimensional stationary half-space boundary value problem of the linear Boltzmann equation including a constant external field via an extension of Case's eigenfunction technique. In the first collision model we reproduce a solution recently obtained by Cercignani; in the second model the solution of the stationary boundary value problem is presented for the first time.     

On the Rate of Entropy Production for the Boltzmann Equation

We show that there exists a wide class of distribution functions (with moments of any order as close to their equilibrium values as we like) which can provide an abnormally low rate of entropy production. The result is valid for the Boltzmann equation with any cross section (|V|, ) satisfying a mild restriction. The functions are constructed in an explicit form and we discuss some applications of our results.     

The bobylev approach to the nonlinear Boltzmann equation

The Bobylev approach to the nonlinear Boltzmann equation is reviewed. The linearized problem is discussed and it is shown that eigenfunctions decaying like a negative power of the velocity are possible with Maxwell molecules only. The relaxation to equilibrium according to the nonlinear equation is discussed and the Krook-Wu conjecture on the status of the BKW mode is shown to be false in general. The buildup of the high-energy tails is considered and a phenomenon observed by Tjon is given a simple explanation. Finally, the method is illustrated with numerical calculations performed for two sets of initial conditions.     

Nonlinear conductivity and entropy in the two-body Boltzmann gas

We find exact solutions of the two-particle Boltzmann equation for hard disks and hard spheres diffusing isothermally in an external field. The corresponding transport coefficient, one-particle current divided by field strength, decreases as the field increases. This nonlinear dependence of the current on the field and the corresponding nonlinear dependence of the distribution function on the current are compared to the predictions of single-time information theory. Our exact steady-state distribution function, from Boltzmann's equation, is quite different from the approximate information-theory analog. The approximate theory badly underestimates the nonlinear decrease of entropy with current. The exact two-particle solutions we find here should prove useful in testing and improving theories of steady-state and transient distribution functions far from equilibrium.