A Counter Example to Cercignani’s Conjecture for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis> Dimensional Kac Model

Kac’s d dimensional model gives a linear, many particle, binary collision model from which, under suitable conditions, the celebrated Boltzmann equation, in its spatially homogeneous form, arise as a mean field limit. The ergodicity of the evolution equation leads to questions about the relaxation rate, in hope that such a rate would pass on the Boltzmann equation as the number of particles goes to infinity. This program, starting with Kac and his one dimensional ‘Spectral Gap Conjecture’ at 1956, finally reached its conclusion in the Maxwellian case in a series of papers by authors such as Janvresse, Maslen, Carlen, Carvalho, Loss and Geronimo, but the hope to get a limiting relaxation rate for the Boltzmann equation with this linear method was already shown to be unrealistic (although the problem is still important and interesting due to its connection with the linearized Boltzmann operator). A less linear approach, via a many particle version of Cercignani’s conjecture, is the grounds for this paper. In our paper, we extend recent results by the author from the one dimensional Kac model to the d dimensional one, showing that the entropy-entropy production ratio, Γ _N , still yields a very strong dependency in the number of particles of the problem when we consider the general case.     

Some Ideas About Quantitative Convergence of Collision Models to Their Mean Field Limit

We consider a stochastic N-particle model for the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann evolution and prove its convergence to the associated Boltzmann equation when N⟶∞, with non-asymptotic estimates: for any time T>0, we bound the distance between the empirical measure of the particle system and the measure given by the Boltzmann evolution in a relevant Hilbert space. The control got is Gaussian, i.e. we prove that the distance is bigger than xN ^−1/2 with a probability of type O(e^-x2)O(e^{-x^{2}}). The two main ingredients are a control of fluctuations due to the discrete nature of collisions and a kind of Lipschitz continuity for the Boltzmann collision kernel. We study more extensively the case where our Hilbert space is the homogeneous negative Sobolev space [(H)\dot]^-s\smash {\dot {H}}^{-s}. Then we are only able to give bounds for Maxwellian models; however, numerical computations tend to show that our results are useful in practice.     

Breakdown conditions and thermal instability in air

Summary Reduced electric fields (E/N) responsible for electrical breakdown in air have been calculated by solving a stationary Boltzmann equation including superelastic vibrational collisions. The results show a decrease ofE/N with increasing gas temperature. The possibility of air instability due to chemical processes producing electrons is then investigated by calculating the threshold of this instability as a function of a characteristic time for heat dissipation τ.     

On boltzmann equations and fokker—planck asymptotics: Influence of grazing collisions

In this paper, we are interested in the influence of grazing collisions, with deflection angle near π/2, in the space-homogeneous Boltzmann equation. We consider collision kernels given by inverse-sth-power force laws, and we deal with general initial data with bounded mass, energy, and entropy. First, once a suitable weak formulation is defined, we prove the existence of solutions of the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation, without angular cutoff assumption on the collision kernel, fors ≥ 7/3. Next, the convergence of these solutions to solutions of the Landau-Fokker-Planck equation is studied when the collision kernel concentrates around the value π/2. For very soft interactions, 2<s<7/3, the existence of weak solutions is discussed concerning the Boltzmann equation perturbed by a diffusion term     

A discontinuous Galerkin finite-element method for a 1D prototype of the Boltzmann equation

To develop and analyze new computational techniques for the Boltzmann equation based on model or approximation adaptivity, it is imperative to have disposal of a compliant model problem that displays the essential characteristics of the Boltzmann equation and that admits the extraction of highly accurate reference solutions. For standard collision processes, the Boltzmann equation itself fails to meet the second requirement for d = 2, 3 spatial dimensions, on account of its setting in 2d, while for d = 1 the first requirement is violated because the Boltzmann equation then lacks the convergence-to-equilibrium property that forms the substructure of simplified models. In this article we present a numerical investigation of a new one-dimensional prototype of the Boltzmann equation. The underlying molecular model is endowed with random collisions, which have been fabricated such that the corresponding Boltzmann equation exhibits convergence to Maxwell–Boltzmann equilibrium solutions. The new Boltzmann model is approximated by means of a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite-element method. To validate the one-dimensional Boltzmann model, we conduct numerical experiments and compare the results with Monte-Carlo simulations of equivalent molecular-dynamics models.     

Current Reservoirs in the Simple Exclusion Process

We consider the symmetric simple exclusion process in the interval [−N,N] with additional birth and death processes respectively on (N−K,N], K>0, and [−N,−N+K). The exclusion is speeded up by a factor N ², births and deaths by a factor N. Assuming propagation of chaos (a property proved in a companion paper, De Masi et al., ) we prove convergence in the limit N→∞ to the linear heat equation with Dirichlet condition on the boundaries; the boundary conditions however are not known a priori, they are obtained by solving a non-linear equation. The model simulates mass transport with current reservoirs at the boundaries and the Fourier law is proved to hold.     

Global Existence of Classical Solutions to the Fokker-Planck-BGK Equation

A kinetic model of the Fokker-Planck-Boltzmann equation is introduced by replacing the original Boltzmann collision operator with the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook collision model (BGK collision model). This model equation, which we call the Fokker-Planck-BGK equation, has many physical features that the Fokker-Planck-Boltzmann equation possesses. We first establish an L ^∞ existence result for this equation, by which we construct the approximate solutions. Then, by means of the regularizing effects of the linear Fokker-Planck operator and L ^p estimates of local Maxwellians, we obtain some uniform estimates of the approximate solutions. Finally, combining those estimates and regularizing effects, we prove by a compactness argument that the equation has a global classical solution under rather general initial conditions. Supported by the Scientific Research Foundation of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST-SRF).     

The vertex formulation of the Bazhanov-Baxter model

In this paper we formulate an integrable model on the simple cubic lattice. TheN-valued spin variables of the model belong to edges of the lattice. The Boltzmann weights of the model obey the vertex-type tetrahedron equation. In the thermodynamic limit our model is equivalent to the Bazhanov-Baxter model. In the case whenN=2 we reproduce Korepanov's and Hietarinta's solutions of the tetrahedron equation as special cases.     

Decay Rates in Probability Metrics Towards Homogeneous Cooling States for the Inelastic Maxwell Model

We quantify the long-time behavior of solutions to the nonlinear Boltzmann equation for spatially uniform freely cooling inelastic Maxwell molecules by means of the contraction property of a suitable metric in the set of probability measures. Existence, uniqueness, and precise estimates of overpopulated high energy tails of the self-similar profile proved in ref. 9 are revisited and derived from this new Liapunov functional. For general initial conditions the solutions of the Boltzmann equation are then proved to converge with computable rate as t → ∞ to the self-similar solution in this distance, which metrizes the weak convergence of measures. Moreover, we can relate this Fourier distance to the Euclidean Wasserstein distance or Tanaka functional proving also its exponential convergence towards the homogeneous cooling states. The findings are relevant in the understanding of the conjecture formulated by Ernst and Brito in refs. 15, 16, and complement and improve recent studies on the same problem of Bobylev and Cercignani⁽⁹⁾ and Bobylev, Cercignani and one of the authors.⁽¹¹⁾     

The BGK Model with External Confining Potential: Existence,Long-Time Behaviour and Time-Periodic Maxwellian Equilibria

We study global existence and long time behaviour for the inhomogeneous nonlinear BGK model for the Boltzmann equation with an external confining potential. For an initial datum f ₀≥0 with bounded mass, entropy and total energy we prove existence and strong convergence in L ¹ to a Maxwellian equilibrium state, by compactness arguments and multipliers techniques. Of particular interest is the case with an isotropic harmonic potential, in which Boltzmann himself found infinitely many time-periodic Maxwellian steady states. This behaviour is shared with the Boltzmann equation and other kinetic models. For all these systems we study the multistability of the time-periodic Maxwellians and provide necessary conditions on f ₀ to identify the equilibrium state, both in L ¹ and in Lyapunov sense. Under further assumptions on f, these conditions become also sufficient for the identification of the equilibrium in L ¹.     

Grad’s 13 Moment Equations in a Modified Form

We describe a hierarchy of formal expansions that represent the Fourier transform of a solution of the Boltzmann equation. The constructed approximations are based on the family of weighted Taylor expansions. The first two representations correspond to the Maxwellian and to the Gaussian expansions. The third representation has a weight that generalizes the Gaussian and it depends on the first 13 moments of the Boltzmann density f. It can be shown that this weight is Galilean invariant and it is close to the Gaussian, providing that the heat fluxes are not too large. The 13 moment weight yields a revised form of Grad’s 13 moment expansion for the Boltzmann equation. In search for the entropy dissipation inequality, we also examine the relation between Levermore’s 14 moment density and Grad’s 13 moment expansion. First, we show that the coefficients of the Godunov potential are described by a system of partial differential equations, with coefficients that depend on the Fourier transform of the Levermore’s density f _Λ itself. Then, we argue that the same Taylor expansion exploited in the Grad’s scheme, can be used to approximate Levermore’s 14 moment density. We also show that the weighted Taylor expansions are related to a formal solution of the Hamburger problem.     

An approximate expression for the galvanomagnetic tensor

Using the iterative solution to the Boltzmann equation for electrons in d.c. electric and magnetic fields, an expression for the resistivity tensor can be obtained in the form of an infinite series. This series can be approximated by retaining only the first two terms. In the cases where relaxation times exist — in the sense that the collision term in the Boltzmann equation can be written asg(k)/τ(k), whereτ(k) is the relaxation time, andf (k) = f _E(ɛ k) + [∂f _E(εk)/∂ε]·g(k) the distribution function for electrons with wavevectork — this approximation is exact. For polyvalent metals in the one-OPW approximation, the complete galvanomagnetic tensor can be obtained using this approximation and the result differs from that obtained by using a time of relaxation given by an expression suggested byZiman. A calculation for a simple model Fermi surface, with screened Coulomb scattering, is carried out and the results compared with those of the relaxation time approximation.     

Integral Representation of the Linear Boltzmann Operator for Granular Gas Dynamics with Applications

We investigate the properties of the collision operator Q associated to the linear Boltzmann equation for dissipative hard-spheres arising in granular gas dynamics. We establish that, as in the case of non-dissipative interactions, the gain collision operator is an integral operator whose kernel is made explicit. One deduces from this result a complete picture of the spectrum of Q in an Hilbert space setting, generalizing results from T. Carleman (Publications Scientifiques de l’Institut Mittag-Leffler, vol. 2, 1957) to granular gases. In the same way, we obtain from this integral representation of Q ⁺ that the semigroup in L ¹(ℝ³×ℝ³,dx ⊗ dv) associated to the linear Boltzmann equation for dissipative hard spheres is honest generalizing known results from Arlotti (Acta Appl. Math. 23:129–144, 1991).     

Distribution function for large velocities of a two-dimensional gas under shear flow

The high-velocity distribution of a two-dimensional dilute gas of Maxwell molecules under uniform shear flow is studied. First we analyze the shear-rate dependence of the eigenvalues governing the time evolution of the velocity moments derived from the Boltzmann equation. As in the three-dimensional case discussed by us previously, all the moments of degreek⩾4 diverge for shear rates larger than a critical valuea _c ^(k) , which behaves for largek asa _c ^(k) ∼k ⁻¹. This divergence is consistent with an algebraic tail of the formf(V) ∼V ^−4-σ(a), where σ is a decreasing function of the shear rate. This expectation is confirmed by a Monte Carlo simulation of the Boltzmann equation far from equilibrium.     

Equilibrium Fluctuations for a Model of Coagulating-Fragmenting Planar Brownian Particles

We study a model of mass-bearing coagulating-fragmenting planar Brownian particles. Coagulation occurs when two particles are within a distance of order ε. Our model is macroscopically described by an inhomogeneous Smoluchowski’s equation in the low ε limit provided that the initial number of particles N is of order |log ε|. When a detailed balance condition is satisfied, we establish a central limit theorem by showing that in the low ε limit, the particle density fluctuation fields obey an Ornstein-Uhlenbeck stochastic differential equation.     

Some Considerations on the Derivation of the Nonlinear Quantum Boltzmann Equation II: The Low Density Regime

In this paper we analyse the asymptotic dynamics of a system of N identical quantum particles in a low-density regime. Our approach follows the strategy introduced by the authors in a previous work,⁽²⁾ to treat the simpler weak coupling regime. The time evolution of the Wigner transform of the one-particle reduced density matrix is represented by means of a perturbative series. The expansion is obtained upon iterating the Duhamel formula, in the spirit of the paper by Lanford.⁽³²⁾ For short times and small interaction potential, we rigorously prove that a subseries of the complete perturbative series, converges to the solution of the nonlinear Boltzmann equation that is physically relevant in the context. An important point is that we completely identify the cross-section entering the limiting Boltzmann equation, as being the Born series expansion of quantum scattering.As in ref. 2, our convergence result is only partial, in that we merely characterize the asymptotic behaviour of a subseries of the complete original perturbative expansion. We only have plausibility arguments in the direction of proving that the terms we neglect, when going from the original series to its associated subseries, are indeed vanishing in the limit.The present study holds in any dimension d ≥ 3.     

Grad’s 13 Moment Equations in a Modified Form

We describe a hierarchy of formal expansions that represent the Fourier transform of a solution of the Boltzmann equation. The constructed approximations are based on the family of weighted Taylor expansions. The first two representations correspond to the Maxwellian and to the Gaussian expansions. The third representation has a weight that generalizes the Gaussian and it depends on the first 13 moments of the Boltzmann density f. It can be shown that this weight is Galilean invariant and it is close to the Gaussian, providing that the heat fluxes are not too large. The 13 moment weight yields a revised form of Grad’s 13 moment expansion for the Boltzmann equation. In search for the entropy dissipation inequality, we also examine the relation between Levermore’s 14 moment and Grad’s 13 moment expansion. First, we show that the coefficients of the Godunov potential are described by a system of partial differential equations, with coefficients that depend on the Fourier transform of the Levermore’s density fΛ. Then, we argue that the same Taylor expansion exploited in the Grad’s scheme can be used to approximate Levermore’s 14 moment density. We also show that the weighted Taylor expansions are related to a formal solution of the Hamburger problem.     

Crossover from Quantum to Boltzmann Statistics for Free Particles in a Single Harmonic Trap

With invoking analytical formulae in number theory and numerical calculations, we calculate the number of microstates in microcanonical ensemble for free particles in a single harmonic trap which in whole space defines a thermodynamic system but not a spatially homogeneous one. Once the number of excitation quanta m is larger than the square of the particle number N ² as m⪰O(N ²) when N≫1, the number of microcanonical microstates for an ideal, harmonically trapped Bose or Fermi gas gradually converge to the Boltzmann microcanonical microstates for the classical particles with a proper consideration of the indistinguishability.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis> = 1, 2 supersymmetric non-local gas equation

In this paper we study the supersymmetrization of the N = 1 and N = 2 nonlocal gas equation. We show that this system is bi-Hamiltonian. While the N = 1 supersymmetrization allows the hierarchy of equations to be extended to negative orders (local equations), we argue that this is not the case for the N = 2 supersymmetrization. In the bosonic limit, however, the N = 2 system of equations lead to a new coupled integrable system of equations. Presented at the International Colloquium “Integrable Systems and Quantum Symmetries”, Prague, 16–18 June 2005.