Stochastic solution of the linearized Boltzmann equation

For the linearized Boltzmann equation with finite cross section, the solution is represented as an integral over the paths of a Markov jump process. The integral is only shown to converge conditionally, where the limiting process is defined by an increasing sequence of stopping times. The notion of local martingale plays an important role. A number of related kinetic models are also mentioned.Supported by NSF Grant GP 28576.     

On a class of solutions of nonlinear Boltzmann equations

In a recent paper by Krook and Wu, the nonlinear Boltzmann equation for an infinite, spatially homogeneous, isotropic monoatomic gas of constant density and kinetic energy and with an elastic differential cross section that varies inversely as relative speed has been reduced to an infinite sequence of moment equations. The present note observes that the moment equations are successively integrable and shows that as time goes to infinity, the distribution tends to be Maxwellian.     

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.     

Boltzmann equation on a lattice: Existence and uniqueness of solutions

Cercignani, Greenberg, and Zweifel proved the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the Boltzmann equation on a toroidal lattice under the assumption that the collision kernel is bounded. We give an alternative, considerably simpler, proof which is based on a fixed point argument.     

Global existence of solutions for a model Boltzmann equation

A model recently introduced by Ianiro and Lebowitz is shown to have a global solution for initial data having a finiteH-functional and belonging toL ¹ (L _x ). Methods previously introduced by Tartar to deal with discrete velocity models are used.     

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.     

Nonisotropic solutions of the Boltzmann equation

We consider the relaxation to equilibrium of a spatially uniform Maxwellian gas. We expand the solution of the nonlinear Boltzmann equation in a truncated series of orthogonal functions. We integrate numerically the equation for non-isotropic initial conditions. For certain simple conditions we find interesting proximity effects and other transient relaxation phenomena at thermal energies. Furthermore, we define a resummation of the orthogonal expansion which is more convenient than the original one for the numerical analysis of the relaxation process.     

Inhomogeneous similarity solutions of the Boltzmann equation with confining external forces

The Nikolskii transform makes it possible to construct inhomogeneous solutions of the Boltzmann equation from homogeneous ones. These solutions correspond to a gas in expansion, but if we introduce external forces, they can relax toward absolute Maxwellians. This property holds independently of the assumed intermolecular inverse power force. Consequently, for Maxwell molecules and from energy-dependent homogeneous distributions, we construct effectively a class of inhomogeneous similarity distributions with Maxwellian equilibrium relaxation. We review and investigate again the homogeneous distributions which can be written in closed form, for instance, we show that an elliptic exact solution proposed some years ago violates positivity. For Maxwell interaction with singular cross sections, we numerically construct inhomogeneous distributions having Maxwellian equilibrium states and study the Tjon overshoot effect. We show that both the sign and the time decrease of the external force as well as the microscopic model of the cross section contribute to the asymptotic behavior of the distribution. These inhomogeneous similarity solutions include a class of distributions that asymptotically oscillate between different Maxwellians. Two classes of external forces are considered: linear spatial-dependent forces or linear velocity-dependent forces plus source term.     

Coarsely grained stochastic Boltzmann equation and its moment equations

The stochastic Boltzmann equation is coarsely grained. The coarsely grained stochastic (CGS) Boltzmann equation has fluctuating terms in its collision term. On the basis of the CGS Boltzmann equation, reduced Grad’s 26 moment equations are derived. Coarsely grained moment equations obtained from the CGS Boltzmann equation show that fluctuating terms remain as nonvanishing terms owing to the nonlinearity in the collision term of the CGS Boltzmann equation. The Navier-Stokes-Fourier law obtained using the CGS Boltzmann equation indicates that the pressure deviator and heat flux include fluctuations of their one-order higher moments.     

Hydrodynamic limits for the Boltzmann process

We study the behavior of the nonlinear Markov process associated to the Boltzmann equation under both hyperbolic and parabolic space-time scalings. In the first case the limit of the process is the solution of an o.d.e. with vector field given by a solution of the Euler equation, while in the second case the limit of the process, in the incompressible case, turns out to be a diffusion process whose drift is a solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation.     

On diffuse reflection at the boundary for the Boltzmann equation and related equations

The paper considers diffuse reflection at the boundary with nonconstant boundary temperature and unbounded velocities. The solutions obtained are proved to conserve mass at the boundary. After a preliminary study of the collisionless case, the main results obtained are existence for the Boltzmann equation in a DiPerna-Lions framework with the above boundary conditions in a bounded measure sense, and existence together with uniqueness for the BGK equation with Maxwellian diffusion on the boundary in anL framework.Deceased.     

Exact solutions to the time-dependent Lorentz gas Boltzmann Equation: The approach to hydrodynamics

New exact solutions to the time-dependent Lorentz gas Boltzmann equation are presented for two classes of nonequilibrium initial value problems: thedecay of localized disturbances and theresponse to applied electric fields. These exact results are used to gain some insight into the crossover of the nonequilibrium state from the early-timekinetic regime to the late-timehydrodynamic regime.     

On the asymptotic equivalence between the Enskog and the Boltzmann equations

An asymptotic equivalence theorem is proven between the solutions of the initial value problem in all space for the Boltzmann and Enskog equations for initial data which assure global existence for the solutions to the initial value problem for one of the two equations. The proof is given starting from the solution of the Boltzmann equation, then the proof line is simply indicated when one starts from the Enskog equation. The proof holds for Knudsen numbers of the order of unity and equivalence is proven when the scale of the dimensions of the gas particles characterizing the Enskog equation tends to zero.On leave from Department of Mathematics, University of Warsaw, Poland.     

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.     

On the normal solutions of the Boltzmann equation with small Knudsen number

A singular perturbation method is used to find the normal solutions of the Boltzmann equation with small Knudsen number. It is proved that the secular terms may be removed by improving the Hilbert expansion and the Enskog expansion.     

Master equations for subordinated processes

We study Markov jump processes constructed by subordination of diffusion processes. The procedure can be viewed as a randomization or a coarse graining of time. We construct the master equation for the cases of finite and infinite total jump rates, and give a collection of explicitly solvable examples.     

Global solutions of the Boltzmann equation on a lattice

The nonlinear Boltzmann equation with a discretized spatial variable is studied in a Banach space of absolutely integrable functions of the velocity variables. Conservation laws and positivity are utilized to extend weak local solutions to a global solution. This is shown to be a strong solution by analytic semigroup techniques.Supported by National Science Foundation Grant ENG-7515882.     

A convergence proof for Bird's direct simulation Monte Carlo method for the Boltzmann equation

Bird's direct simulation Monte Carlo method for the Boltzmann equation is considered. The limit (as the number of particles tends to infinity) of the random empirical measures associated with the Bird algorithm is shown to be a deterministic measure-valued function satisfying an equation close (in a certain sense) to the Boltzmann equation. A Markov jump process is introduced, which is related to Bird's collision simulation procedure via a random time transformation. Convergence is established for the Markov process and the random time transformation. These results, together with some general properties concerning the convergence of random measures, make it possible to characterize the limiting behavior of the Bird algorithm.     

On the derivation of thermohydrodynamic equations from the Boltzmann equations

The Boltzmann equation deals with a distributionf(x, ), wherex denotes the space variable and is the momentum. The hydrodynamic equations deal with-moments of the distribution. The paper deals with the derivation of the hydrodynamic equations in the case that the collision kernel is Maxwellian, i.e., independent of the velocity. For such a kernel, a computational tool, based on the theory of representations of the orthogonal group, is developed. With this tool it is possible to derive systems of equations for any number of moments. The construction of closed systems is based on asymptotic estimates for solutions of Boltzmann equations. These show that, in some definite sense, an approximating system involving moments of high order is more accurate than a system of lower order.     

Exact Eternal Solutions of the Boltzmann Equation

We construct two families of self-similar solutions of the Boltzmann equation in an explicit form. They turn out to be eternal and positive. They do not possess finite energy. Asymptotic properties of the solutions are also studied.