General linear response formula for non integrable systems obeying the Vlasov equation

Long-range interacting N-particle systems get trapped into long-living out-of-equilibrium stationary states called quasi-stationary states (QSS). We study here the response to a small external perturbation when such systems are settled into a QSS. In the N → ∞ limit the system is described by the Vlasov equation and QSS are mapped into stable stationary solutions of such equation. We consider this problem in the context of a model that has recently attracted considerable attention, the Hamiltonian mean field (HMF) model. For such a model, stationary inhomogeneous and homogeneous states determine an integrable dynamics in the mean-field effective potential and an action-angle transformation allows one to derive an exact linear response formula. However, such a result would be of limited interest if restricted to the integrable case. In this paper, we show how to derive a general linear response formula which does not use integrability as a requirement. The presence of conservation laws (mass, energy, momentum, etc.) and of further Casimir invariants can be imposed a posteriori. We perform an analysis of the infinite time asymptotics of the response formula for a specific observable, the magnetization in the HMF model, as a result of the application of an external magnetic field, for two stationary stable distributions: the Boltzmann-Gibbs equilibrium distribution and the Fermi-Dirac one. When compared with numerical simulations the predictions of the theory are very good away from the transition energy from inhomogeneous to homogeneous states.     

Quasi-stationary states and incomplete violent relaxation in systems with long-range interactions

We discuss the nature of quasi-stationary states (QSS) with non-Boltzmannian distribution in systems with long-range interactions in relation with a process of incomplete violent relaxation based on the Vlasov equation. We discuss several attempts to characterize these QSS. We show that their distribution is non-universal and explain why their prediction is difficult in general.     

Lynden-Bell and Tsallis distributions for the HMF model

Systems with long-range interactions can reach a Quasi Stationary State (QSS) as a result of a violent collisionless relaxation. If the system mixes well (ergodicity), the QSS can be predicted by the statistical theory of Lynden-Bell (1967) based on the Vlasov equation. When the initial condition takes only two values, the Lynden-Bell distribution is similar to the Fermi-Dirac statistics. Such distributions have recently been observed in direct numerical simulations of the HMF model (Antoniazzi et al. 2006). In this paper, we determine the caloric curve corresponding to the Lynden-Bell statistics in relation with the HMF model and analyze the dynamical and thermodynamical stability of spatially homogeneous solutions by using two general criteria previously introduced in the literature. We express the critical energy and the critical temperature as a function of a degeneracy parameter fixed by the initial condition. Below these critical values, the homogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution is not a maximum entropy state but an unstable saddle point. Known stability criteria corresponding to the Maxwellian distribution and the water-bag distribution are recovered as particular limits of our study. In addition, we find a critical point below which the homogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution is always stable. We apply these results to the situation considered in Antoniazzi et al. For a given energy, we find a critical initial magnetization above which the homogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution ceases to be a maximum entropy state. For an energy U=0.69, this transition occurs above an initial magnetization M_x=0.897. In that case, the system should reach an inhomogeneous Lynden-Bell distribution (most mixed) or an incompletely mixed state (possibly fitted by a Tsallis distribution). Thus, our theoretical study proves that the dynamics is different for small and large initial magnetizations, in agreement with numerical results of Pluchino et al. (2004). This new dynamical phase transition may reconcile the two communities by showing that they study different regimes.     

The application of the QSSA via reaction lumping for the reduction of complex hydrocarbon oxidation mechanisms

The quasi-steady-state approximation (QSSA) has been widely applied for the purposes of chemical kinetic model reduction. Although it is essentially a low-order approximation, it can be shown to lead to significant reductions in the number of fast variables within a mechanism without significant loss of accuracy for model predictions. Due to the couplings between QSSA expressions, the species are commonly solved for using numerical inner iteration techniques. Therefore, although the stiffness of the model system can be reduced, there is a computational overhead in solving the often nonlinear QSSA equations. Greater computational savings can be made where QSS species can be removed from the chemical model via explicit analytical expressions. In many cases these expressions are equivalent to reaction lumping. Where such reaction lumping can be achieved, a reduced mechanism in standard kinetic form can be developed, which contains new lumped reaction rate coefficients, but leads to the removal of QSS species. This paper describes such an approach for mechanisms describing the oxidation of the hydrocarbon fuels n-heptane and cyclohexane, and shows that significant reductions in both species and reactions can be achieved, leading to substantial computational speed-ups. The resulting schemes clearly demonstrate the main atomic flux patterns within the oxidation process. Patterns related to the time-scales of hydrocarbon radical species within alkane oxidation mechanisms are discussed, as well as the potential significance of non-QSS radicals in determining ignition behaviour.     

Consequences of coarse-grained Vlasov equations

The Vlasov equation is analyzed for coarse-grained distributions resembling a finite width of test particles as used in numerical implementations. It is shown that this coarse-grained distribution obeys a kinetic equation similar to the Vlasov equation, but with additional terms. These terms give rise to entropy production indicating dissipative features due to a nonlinear mode coupling. The interchange of coarse graining and dynamical evolution is discussed with the help of an exactly solvable model for the self-consistent Vlasov equation and practical consequences are worked out. By calculating analytically the stationary solution of a general Vlasov equation we can show that a sum of modified Boltzmann-like distributions is approached dependent on the initial distribution. This behavior is independent of degeneracy and only controlled by the width of test particles. The condition for approaching a stationary solution is derived and it is found that the coarse graining energy given by the momentum width of test particles should be smaller than a quarter of the kinetic energy. Observable consequences of this coarse graining are: (i) spatial correlations in observables, (ii) too large radii of clusters or nuclei in self-consistent Thomas–Fermi treatments, (iii) a structure term in the response function resembling vertex correction correlations or internal structure effects and (iv) a modified centroid energy and higher damping width of collective modes.     

Numerical approximation of the Vlasov–Maxwell–Fokker–Planck system in two dimensions

A numerical method is developed for solving the Vlasov–Maxwell–Fokker–Planck system in two spatial dimensions. This system of equations is a model for a collisional plasma in the presence of a self consistent electromagnetic field. The numerical procedure is a type of deterministic particle method and is an extension to include the full electromagnetic field of the approximation method of Wollman and Ozizmir [S. Wollman, E. Ozizmir, Numerical approximation of the Vlasov–Poisson–Fokker–Planck system in two dimensions, J. Comput. Phys. 228 (2009) 6629–6669]. In addition, the long time asymptotic behavior of solutions is studied. It is determined that the solution to the Vlasov–Maxwell–Fokker–Planck system converges to the same steady state solution as that for the Vlasov–Poisson–Fokker–Planck system.     

球坐标动量空间下相对论Vlasov方程的数值算法

针对相对论Vlasov方程动量区间跨度大、难以计算的困难,将相对论Vlasov方程在球坐标动量空间中进行数值求解.对相对论Vlasov方程球坐标动量空间构造4阶非分裂守恒型数值格式.数值模拟相对论Landau阻尼问题并与解析理论进行比较,验证数值模型和算法的有效性.对激光等离子体相互作用进行初步模拟分析,表明通过采用球坐标下的动量空间,可在相对较少动量网格情形下,获得与粒子模拟可相互验证的结果.     

Linear stability of the spatially homogeneous equilibria of the Vlasov-Poisson system with collisions

In this work we study the stability of the spatially homogeneous solutions of the Vlasov-Poisson system (Vlasov equilibria) when a collision term, in the form of a BGK operator with velocity-dependent collision frequency, is added to the Vlasov equation. Generalizing earlier results, obtained for the same collision model with a constant collision frequency, we find the spectrum and the eigenfunctions of the linear transport operator and derive a new linear dispersion relation for the linearized kinetic equations. Finally, we present some numerical results.     

Hamiltonian and Brownian systems with long-range interactions: IV. General kinetic equations from the quasilinear theory

We develop the kinetic theory of Hamiltonian systems with weak long-range interactions. Starting from the Klimontovich equation and using a quasilinear theory, we obtain a general kinetic equation that can be applied to spatially inhomogeneous systems and that takes into account memory effects. This equation is valid at order 1/N in a proper thermodynamic limit and it coincides with the kinetic equation obtained from the BBGKY hierarchy. For N→+∞, it reduces to the Vlasov equation governing collisionless systems. We describe the process of phase mixing and violent relaxation leading to the formation of a quasistationary state (QSS) on the coarse-grained scale. We interpret the physical nature of the QSS in relation to Lynden-Bell’s statistical theory and discuss the problem of incomplete relaxation. In the second part of the paper, we consider the relaxation of a test particle in a thermal bath. We derive a Fokker-Planck equation by directly calculating the diffusion tensor and the friction force from the Klimontovich equation. We give general expressions of these quantities that are valid for possibly spatially inhomogeneous systems with long correlation time. We show that the diffusion and friction terms have a very similar structure given by a sort of generalized Kubo formula. We also obtain non-Markovian kinetic equations that can be relevant when the auto-correlation function of the force decreases slowly with time. An interesting factor in our approach is the development of a formalism that remains in physical space (instead of Fourier space) and that can deal with spatially inhomogeneous systems.     

High-Capacity Three-Party Quantum Secret Sharing with Single Photons in Both the Polarization and the Spatial-Mode Degrees of Freedom

We present a high-capacity three-party quantum secret sharing (QSS) protocol with a sequence of single photons in both the polarization and the spatial-mode degrees of freedom. By inserting the boss Alice into the middle position between the two agents Bob and Charlie, our QSS protocol is secure in theory. The boss Alice chooses some unitary operations to encode her information on the single photons. It is interesting to point out the fact that Alice does not change the bases of the single photons which are used to carry the useful information about the private key, which improves its success probability for obtaining a private key. Compared with the QSS protocol by Zhou et al. (Chin. Phys. Lett. 24, 2181 (2007)), our QSS protocol has a higher capacity without increasing the difficulty of its implementation in experiment as each correlated photon can carry two bits of useful information. Compared with those QSS protocols based on entangled photon pairs and Bell-state measurements, our QSS protocol is more feasible as it does not require the complete Bell-state analysis which is not easy with linear optics. We give out the setup for the implementation of our QSS protocol with linear optical elements.     

Quantum Secret Sharing Based on Quantum Search Algorithm

Quantum secret sharing (QSS) and quantum search algorithm (QSA) are considered as two important but different research topics in quantum information science. This paper recognizes an important feature in the well-known Grover’s QSA and then applies it to propose a QSS protocol. In contrast to the existing QSA-based QSS protocols, the newly proposed protocol has the following two advantages: (1)?no quantum memory is required by the agents, whereas the agents in the existing QSA-based QSS protocols need long-term quantum memories to store their secret shadows; (2)?the agents can cooperate to recover the boss’s secret by using shadows in classical bits, whereas, the others have to combine their shadows in photons and perform a unitary operation on the retained photons. The proposed QSS protocol is also shown to be secure against eavesdroppers or malicious agents.     

Multi-moment advection scheme for Vlasov simulations

We present a new numerical scheme for solving the advection equation and its application to Vlasov simulations. The scheme treats not only point values of a profile but also its zeroth to second order piecewise moments as dependent variables, for better conservation of the information entropy. We have developed one-and two-dimensional schemes and show that they provide quite accurate solutions within reasonable usage of computational resources compared to other existing schemes. The two-dimensional scheme can accurately solve the solid body rotation problem of a gaussian profile for more than hundred rotation periods with little numerical diffusion. This is crucially important for Vlasov simulations of magnetized plasmas. Applications of the one- and two-dimensional schemes to electrostatic and electromagnetic Vlasov simulations are presented with some benchmark tests.     

A review of Vlasov–Fokker–Planck numerical modeling of inertial confinement fusion plasma

The interaction of intense lasers with solid matter generates a hot plasma state that is well described by the Vlasov–Fokker–Planck equation. Accurate and efficient modeling of the physics in these scenarios is highly pertinent, because it relates to experimental campaigns to produce energy by inertial confinement fusion on facilities such as the National Ignition Facility. Calculations involving the Vlasov–Fokker–Planck equation are computationally intensive, but are crucial to proper understanding of a wide variety of physical effects and instabilities in inertial fusion plasmas. In this topical review, we will introduce the background physics related to Vlasov–Fokker–Planck simulation, and then proceed to describe results from numerical simulation of inertial fusion plasma in a pedagogical manner by discussing some key numerical algorithm developments that enabled the research to take place. A qualitative comparison of the techniques is also given.     

A numerical scheme for the integration of the Vlasov–Poisson system of equations, in the magnetized case

We present a numerical algorithm for the solution of the Vlasov–Poisson system of equations, in the magnetized case. The numerical integration is performed using the well-known “splitting” method in the electrostatic approximation, coupled with a finite difference upwind scheme; finally the algorithm provides second order accuracy in space and time. The cylindrical geometry is used in the velocity space, in order to describe the rotation of the particles around the direction of the external uniform magnetic field.Using polar coordinates, the integration of the Vlasov equation is very simplified in the velocity space with respect to the cartesian geometry, because the rotation in the velocity cartesian space corresponds to a translation along the azimuthal angle in the cylindrical reference frame. The scheme is intrinsically symplectic and significatively simpler to implement, with respect to a cartesian one. The numerical integration is shown in detail and several conservation tests are presented, in order to control the numerical accuracy of the code and the time evolution of the entropy, strictly related to the filamentation problem for a kinetic model, is discussed.     

Isotropization of solutions of the Einstein–Vlasov system with Bianchi V symmetry

Using the methods developed for different Bianchi class A cosmological models we treat the simplest Bianchi class B model, namely Bianchi type V. The future non-linear stability for solutions of the Einstein–Vlasov system is demonstrated and it is shown that these solutions are asymptotically stable to the Milne solution. Within the isotropic solutions of the Einstein–Vlasov system the spatially flat Friedmann solution is unstable within this class, and expanding models tend also to the Milne solution.     

A note on the constants of the linearized motion of Vlasov plasmas

It is shown that if a single constant of the linearized motion of a Vlasov plasma is known, it is at once possible to construct an infinite number of other non-trivial constants by using only powers of the Vlasov operator and without making any appeal to the spectral decomposition of the Vlasov operator.     

A parallel Vlasov solver based on local cubic spline interpolation on patches

A method for computing the numerical solution of Vlasov type equations on massively parallel computers is presented. In contrast with Particle In Cell methods which are known to be noisy, the method is based on a semi-Lagrangian algorithm that approaches the Vlasov equation on a grid of phase space. As this kind of method requires a huge computational effort, the simulations are carried out on parallel machines. To that purpose, we present a local cubic splines interpolation method based on a domain decomposition, e.g. devoted to a processor. Hermite boundary conditions between the domains, using ad hoc reconstruction of the derivatives, provide a good approximation of the global solution. The method is applied on various physical configurations which show the ability of the numerical scheme.     

Free vibration of plates on Vlasov's foundation

A brief discussion is presented of the free vibration of (i) isosceles right-angled triangular and (ii) equilateral triangular plates, with simply supported edges and resting on a single layered elastic half-space model of Vlasov type. Some numerical results are discussed.     

A closer look at the indications of q-generalized Central Limit Theorem behavior in quasi-stationary states of the HMF model

We give a closer look at the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) behavior in quasi-stationary states of the Hamiltonian Mean Field model, a paradigmatic one for long-range-interacting classical many-body systems. We present new calculations which show that, following their time evolution, we can observe and classify three kinds of long-standing quasi-stationary states (QSS) with different correlations. The frequency of occurrence of each class depends on the size of the system. The different microscopic nature of the QSS leads to different dynamical correlations and therefore to different results for the observed CLT behavior.