Diffusion in inhomogeneous media

The problem is to establish the correct diffusion equation in a medium that is inhomogeneous and whose temperature also varies in space. As a special model we study particles whose phase space distribution obeys Kramers' equation with a generalized collision operator. In the usual limit of strong collisions a diffusion equation is obtained. This equation contains additional drift terms, which depend on the form of the collision operator. They cannot be expressed as a mobility and a diffusion coefficient, unless the decay law of the velocity happens to be linear. Conclusion: no universal form of the diffusion equation exists, but each system has to be studied individually.Dedicated to Professor Harry Thomas on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Diffusion Lattice Boltzmann Scheme on a Orthorhombic Lattice

We present a diffusion lattice Boltzmann (DLB) scheme which is derived from first principles. As opposed to the traditional lattice BGK schemes the DLB is valid for orthorhombic lattices and it has two eigenvalues of the collision operator. It is shown that the diffusion coefficient depends only on one eigenvalue of the collision operator. Hence, the DLB scheme can be optimized with means of the additional eigenvalue of the collision operator and with different lattice spacing along the principal axes. The properties of the DLB scheme concerning consistency, stability, and accuracy are studied with eigenmode analysis. This analysis shows that the DLB scheme is consistent with diffusion for a wide range of diffusion coefficients, it has unconditional stability, and that it has third-order accuracy. Furthermore, it is shown that accuracy is improved by setting the additional eigenvalue to zero and by densifying the lattice spacing along the direction of the density gradient.     

Finite size effects on transport coefficients for models of atomic wires coupled to phonons

We consider models of quasi-1-d, planar atomic wires consisting of several, laterally coupled rows of atoms, with mutually non-interacting electrons. This electronic wire system is coupled to phonons, corresponding, e.g., to some substrate. We aim at computing diffusion coefficients in dependence on the wire widths and the lateral coupling. To this end we firstly construct a numerically manageable linear collision term for the dynamics of the electronic occupation numbers by following a certain projection operator approach. By means of this collision term we set up a linear Boltzmann equation. A formula for extracting diffusion coefficients from such Boltzmann equations is given. We find in the regime of a few atomic rows and intermediate lateral coupling a significant and non-trivial dependence of the diffusion coefficient on both, the width and the lateral coupling. These results, in principle, suggest the possible applicability of such atomic wires as electronic devices, such as, e.g., switches.     

Elastic scattering of acoustic phonons on point mass defects

The relaxation of homogeneous states of long-wave acoustic phonon gas scattered by point mass defects in transversely—isotropic media is studied. The spectrum of the suitable collision operator of the Boltzmann-Peierls equation is investigated. It consists of a continuous part and several discrete eigenvalues. Both continuous and discrete part of the spectrum depend on the values of components of the elastic constant tensor. For some values of elastic constants the continuous part splits up into two separate intervals and some of the discrete eigenvalues appear in the gap. The number of discrete eigenvalues and their arrangement are also affected by elastic properties of medium.     

Relaxation of initial spatially unhomogeneous states of phonon gases scattered by point mass defects embedded in isotropic media

The Cauchy problem for the Boltzmann-Peierls equation describing the rarefied gas of acoustic phonons scattered by point mass defects embedded in an isotropic medium is studied. The equation for the Fourier-Laplace transform of the distribution function obtained from the Boltzmann-Peierls equation is solved. The singularities of the Fourier-Laplace transform of the distribution function are investigated. The explicit time dependence of the Fourier transform is established. The crossover from kinetic to diffusive behaviour and the long-time asymptotics of the distribution function is studied. The spectral decomposition of the collision operator is obtained and several lowest order terms of the Chapman-Enskog series are derived. For comparison the suitable results for two dimensional isotropic media are listed.     

基于边缘定向扩散的图像增强方法

针对前向后向扩散方程不能较好的保持流线状结构,而相干增强不能锐化边缘的缺点, 提出一种新的基于边缘定向的张量型前向后向扩散模型.该模型将前向-后向扩散方程引进到张量型扩散方程中,在扩散系数的选取上合并了相干增强扩散与前向-后向扩散的长处,又克服了他们各自的缺点.采用类似相干增强扩散的边缘定向算子实现对边缘的定向,然后根据边缘定向的结果设置扩散张量的特征根,使扩散张量沿边缘方向为正向扩散以增强边缘,而垂直于边缘方向为逆扩散以锐化边缘.理论分析和数值计算表明,该方法具有比相干增强扩散及前向-后向扩散更好的增强效果.     

Elastic scattering of acoustic phonons on point mass defects

The problem of eigenvalues of the collision operator for a gas of acoustic phonons scattered by point mass defects of small concentration embedded in transversely isotropic media is considered. For this purpose the properties of solution of the Boltzmann-Peierls kinetic equation for spatially homogeneous states are studied. An analytic formula for the Laplace transform of the distribution function is obtained. The singularities of this Laplace transform and the initial distribution function determine the dependence of this distribution function on time. For several hexagonal materials characteristics of the singularity set are calculated. Usually the singularity set consists of a continuous part and four discrete points. However, there exist elastic hexagonal materials (⁴He, Cd, Ta, Zn) for which some of discrete points are absent. For some materials (e.g. Zr) the continuous part is very narrow.     

A New Derivation of the Quantum Navier–Stokes Equations in the Wigner–Fokker–Planck Approach

A quantum Navier–Stokes system for the particle, momentum, and energy densities is formally derived from the Wigner–Fokker–Planck equation using a moment method. The viscosity term depends on the particle density with a shear viscosity coefficient which equals the quantum diffusion coefficient of the Fokker–Planck collision operator. The main idea of the derivation is the use of a so-called osmotic momentum operator, which is the sum of the phase-space momentum and the gradient operator. In this way, a Chapman–Enskog expansion of the Wigner function, which typically leads to viscous approximations, is avoided. Moreover, we show that the osmotic momentum emerges from local gauge theory.     

A density-corrected quantum Boltzmann equation

Binary correlations are a recognized part of the pair density operator, but the influence of binary correlations on the singlet density operator is usually not emphasized. Here free motion and binary correlations are taken as independent building blocks for the structure of the nonequilibrium singlet and pair density operators. Binary correlations are assumed to arise from the collision of twofree particles. Together with the first BBGKY equation and a retention of all terms that are second order in gas density, a generalization of the Boltzmann equation is obtained. This is an equation for thefree particle density operator rather than for the (full) singlet density operator. The form for the pressure tensor calculated from this equation reduces at equilibrium to give the correct (Beth-Uhlenbeck) second virial coefficient, in contrast to a previous quantum Boltzmann equation, which gave only part of the quantum second virial coefficient. Generalizations to include higher-order correlations and collision types are indicated.     

Diffusion,effusion, and chaotic scattering: An exactly solvable Liouvillian dynamics

We study diffusion and chaotic scattering in a chain of baker maps coupled together which forms an area-preserving mapping of an infinitely extended strip onto itself. This exactly solvable mapping sustains chaotic behaviors and diffusion processes. The relationship between the diffusion coefficient, the Lyapunov exponent, and the entropy per unit time is derived. The long-lived classical resonances of the Liouville evolution operator are proved to converge toward the eigenvalues of the phenomenological diffusion equation. In this sense, there is a quasi-isomorphism between the resonance spectrum of the Liouville evolution and the eigenvalue spectrum of the phenomenological diffusion equation. Furthermore, we show that a fractal repeller is associated to each non-equilibrium state in the isolated and finite multibaker chain. The nonequilibrium states are all unstable with respect to the equilibrium, validating a weak form of the second principle of thermodynamics for the present dynamical system. Consequences of nonequilibrium fractals on classical measurements are discussed. We then describe the open multibaker chain as a scattering system. Fractal properties of chaotic scattering are here shown to be related to diffusion in the chain.     

Separation of angular and energy relaxations of nonequilibrium electrons in a solid

We demonstrate that the collision integral of the kinetic equation for the interaction of hot electrons with phonons can be split into substantially different parts that correspond to elastic and inelastic collisions. In particular, this applies to electrons with energies of about 1 eV that propagate in semiconductors. The difference in the characteristic energy and momentum relaxation times makes it possible to separate the angular and energy relaxation processes. If the differential cross section of elastic scattering depends, not on the scattering angle, but on the directions of incident and scattered electrons (which is observed, e.g., for the interaction of an electron with piezoelectric lattice vibrations in A^IIIB^V compounds), the Laplacian in the equation that describes the spatial and energy distributions of electrons can be replaced by an elliptical operator; i.e., the electron diffusion turns out to be anisotropic.     

Properties of the Collision Operators of the Electron Boltzmann Equation for a Weakly Ionized Plasma. I. Representation and General Properties

In the kinetic theory a great variety of physical systems is investigated by means of Boltzmann-like equations. This approach is used for neutral gases, neutron as well as radiation transport, plasmas etc. For many problems the knowledge of the properties of the collision operators is of great importance, especially if eigenvalue problems occur. The paper presents an investigation of the properties of the collision operators of the Boltzmann equation covering elastic, exciting and deexciting processes in a weakly ionized plasma. First, a short survey of the importance of eigenfunctions and eigenvalues in the kinetic theory of various systems is given. Then, properties of the outscattering operator as dependent on the course of the differential cross section are considered. Finally, for the inscattering operator such properties as selfadjointness and rotational invariance are investigated in detail. These considerations provide the basis for the proof of compactness and for first conclusions on the spectral properties of the collision operators in the second part of this paper.     

Solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation in detailed balance

The solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation in detailed balance are investigated. Firstly the necessary and sufficient conditions obtained by Graham and Haken are derived by an alternative method. An equivalent form of these conditions in terms of an operator equation for the Fokker-Planck Liouville operator is given. Next, the transition probability is expanded in terms of an biorthogonal set of eigenfunctions of a certain operatorL. The necessary and sufficient conditions for detailed balance leads to a simple operator equation forL. This operator equation guarantees that on!y half of the biorthogonal set needs to be calculated. Finally the dependence of the eigenvalues on the reversible and irreversible drift coefficient is discussed.     

A stochastic derivation of the multivariate master equation describing reaction diffusion systems

We derive the multivariate master equation describing reaction diffusion systems from a discrete form master equation in phase space, assuming that the elastic collisions of the chemically active substances with the inert carrier gas have relaxed. In this state of collisional equilibrium the stochastic operator modelling the displacement of the particles between spatial cells reduces to the random wall operator and the reactive collision term yields the usual birth and death operator. Correlation functions are derived and their validity is discussed.     

A new noise erosion operator for anisotropic diffusion

A noise erosion operator based on partial differential equation (PDE) is introduced, which has an excellent ability of noise removal and edge preservation for two-dimensional (2D) gradient data. The operator is applied to estimate a new diffusion coefficient. Experimental results demonstrate that anisotropic diffusion based on this new erosion operator can efficiently reduce noise and sharpen object boundaries.     

Kinetic properties of multiquanta Davydov-like solitons in molecular chains

The Fokker-Planck equation for multivibron solitons interacting with lattice vibrations in a molecular chain has been derived by means of the nonequilibrium statistical operator method. It was shown that a soliton undergoes diffusive motion characterized by two substantially different diffusion coefficients. The first one corresponds to the ordinary (Einsteinian or dissipative) diffusion and characterizes the soliton Brownian motion, while the second one corresponds to the anomalous diffusion connected with frictionless displacement of the soliton center of mass coordinate due to the interaction with phonons. Both processes are the consequence of the Cherenkov-like radiation of phonon quanta arising when soliton velocity approaches the phase speed of sound.     

Solutions of the Fokker-Planck equation for a double-well potential in terms of matrix continued fractions

Solutions of the Fokker-Planck (Kramers) equation in position-velocity space for the double-well potentiald ₂x²/2+d₄x⁴/4 in terms of matrix continued fractions are derived. It is shown that the method is also applicable to a Boltzmann equation with a BGK collision operator. Results of eigenvalues and of the Fourier transform of correlation functions are presented explicitly. The lowest nonzero eigenvalue is compared with the escape rate in the weak noise limit for various damping constants and the susceptibility is compared with the zero-friction-limit result.