Fractional transport equations for Lévy stable processes

The influence functional method of Feynman and Vernon is used to obtain a quantum master equation for a system subjected to a Lévy stable random force. The corresponding classical transport equations for the Wigner function are then derived, both in the limits of weak and strong friction. These are fractional extensions of the Klein-Kramers and the Smoluchowski equations. It is shown that the fractional character acquired by the position in the Smoluchowski equation follows from the fractional character of the momentum in the Klein-Kramers equation. Connections among fractional transport equations recently proposed are clarified.     

Higher-order quasilinear approximations for the propagator of the Kramers equation

We present a systematic procedure for constructing higher-order quasilinear approximations for the propagator of the Klein-Kramers equation describing the motion of a Brownian particle in a general force field. Its key points are splitting the full force field into a linear contribution and an anharmonic correction, replacing the underlying Langevin equations by difference equations and solving these equations iteratively. An accurate single step propagator is then derived in terms of known statistical properties of the noise terms. Its use in a path integral shows this approach to be advantageous over a Taylor series expansion for the propagator recently derived employing standard techniques.     

The influence of temperature gradients on the kinetic boundary layer problem for a condensing droplet

We extend an earlier method for solving kinetic boundary layer problems to the case of particles moving in aspatially inhomogeneous background. The method is developed for a gas mixture containing a supersaturated vapor and a light carrier gas from which a small droplet condenses. The release of heat of condensation causes a temperature difference between droplet and gas in the quasistationary state; the kinetic equation describing the vapor is the stationary Klein-Kramers equation for Brownian particles diffusing in a temperature gradient. By means of an expansion in Burnett functions, this equation is transformed into a set of coupled algebrodifferential equations. By numerical integration we construct fundamental solutions of this equation that are subsequently combined linearly to fulfill appropriate mesoscopic boundary conditions for particles leaving the droplet surface. In view of the intrinsic numerical instability of the system of equations, a novel procedure is developed to remove the admixture of fast growing solutions to the solutions of interest. The procedure is tested for a few model problems and then applied to a slightly simplified condensation problem with parameters corresponding to the condensation of mercury in a background of neon. The effects of thermal gradients and thermodiffusion on the growth rate of the droplet are small (of the order of 1%), but well outside of the margin of error of the method.     

The moment method for boundary layer problems in Brownian motion theory

We apply Grad's moment method, with Hermite moments and Marshak-type boundary conditions, to several boundary layer problems for the Klein-Kramers equation, the kinetic equation for noninteracting Brownian particles, and study its convergence properties as the number of moments is increased. The errors in various quantities of physical interest decrease asymptotically as inverse powers of this number; the exponent is roughly three times as large as in an earlier variational method, based on an expansion in the exact boundary layer eigenfunctions. For the case of a fully absorbing wall (the Milne problem) we obtain full agreement with the recent exact solution of Marshall and Watson; the relevant slip coefficient, the Milne length, is reproduced with an accuracy better than 10^–6. We also consider partially absorbing walls, with specular or diffuse reflection of nonabsorbed particles. In the latter case we allow for a temperature difference between the wall and the medium in which the particles move. There is noa priori reason why our method should work only for Brownian dynamics; one may hope to extend it to a broad class of linear transport equations. As a first test, we looked at the Milne problem for the BGK equation. In spite of the completely different analytic structure of the boundary layer eigenfunctions, the agreement with the exact solution is almost as good as for the Klein-Kramers equation.     

The kinetic boundary layer for the Klein-Kramers equation; A new numerical approach

We explore a numerical technique for determining the structure of the kinetic boundary layer of the Klein-Kramers equation for noninteracting Brownian particles in a fluid near a wall that absorbs the Brownian particles. The equation is of interest in the theory of diffusion-controlled reactions and of the coagulation of colloidal suspensions. By numerical simulation of the Langevin equation equivalent to the Klein-Kramers equation we amass statistics of the velocities at the first return to the wall and of the return times for particles injected into the fluid at the wall with given velocities. The data can be used to construct the solutions of the standard problems at an absorbing wall, the Milne and the albedo problem. We confirm and extend earlier results by Burschka and Titulaer, obtained by a variational method vexed by the slow convergence of the underlying eigenfunction expansion. We briefly discuss some further boundary layer problems that can be attacked by exploiting the results reported here.     

SL(2,R) PRINCIPAL PROLONGATION STRUCTURES OF SOLITON EQUATIONS AND THEIR CONSERVATION LAWS

We present the concept of principal prolongation structure (PPS) and a covariant criterion of the completeness of conserva-tion currents for the PPS of class of nonlinear evolution equations (NEES).The SL(2,R) × R'(l) PPS for AKNS systems is constructed, a new set of infinite number of polynomial conservation currents (PCCs) corresponding to the nonlinearity of SL (2,R) group manifold is given. These currents together with the usual PCCS of AKNS systems satisfy a covariant equation for the SL(2,R) × R'(l) PPS. This equation gives rise to a criterion of completeness of these currents. As an example,the sine-Gordon system is analysed.     

Towards Nonlinear Quantum Fokker-Planck Equations

It is demonstrated how the equilibrium semiclassical approach of Coffey et al. can be improved to describe more correctly the evolution. As a result a new semiclassical Klein-Kramers equation for the Wigner function is derived, which remains quantum for a free quantum Brownian particle as well. It is transformed to a semiclassical Smoluchowski equation, which leads to our semiclassical generalization of the classical Einstein law of Brownian motion derived before. A possibility is discussed how to extend these semiclassical equations to nonlinear quantum Fokker-Planck equations based on the Fisher information.     

Spinless Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau Oscillator in a Galilean Non-commutative Phase Space

We examine Galilei-invariant linear wave equations in a non-commutative phase space. Specifically, we establish and solve the Galilean covariant Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation for spin-0 fields in a harmonic oscillator potential. We obtain these wave equations with a Galilean covariant approach, based on a (4+1)-dimensional manifold with light-cone coordinates followed by a reduction to a (3+1)-dimensional spacetime. We find the exact wave functions and their energy levels, and we examine the effects of non-commutativity.     

Covariant extensions and the nonsymmetric unified field

The problem of generally covariant extension of Lorentz invariant field equations, by means of covariant derivatives extracted from the nonsymmetric unified field, is considered. It is shown that the contracted curvature tensor can be expressed in terms of a covariant gauge derivative which contains the gauge derivative corresponding to minimal coupling, if the universal constantp, characterizing the nonsymmetric theory, is fixed in terms of Planck's constant and the elementary quantum of charge. By this choice the spinor representation of the linear connection becomes closely related to the spinor affinity used by Infeld and Van Der Waerden in their generally covariant formulation of Dirac's equation.     

A canonical relativistic approach to quantize electromagnetic field in the presence of moving magneto-dielectric media

A canonical relativistic formulation is introduced to quantize electromagnetic field in the presence of a polarizable and magnetizable moving medium. The medium is modeled by a continuum of the second rank antisymmetric tensors in a phenomenological way. The covariant wave equation for the vector potential and the covariant constitutive equation of the medium are obtained as the Euler-Lagrange equations using the Lagrangian of the total system. A fourth rank tensor which couples the electromagnetic field and the medium is introduced. The susceptibility tensor of the medium is obtained in terms of this coupling tensor. The noise polarization tensor is calculated in terms of both the coupling tensor and the ladder operators of the tensors modeling the medium.     

A tale of three equations: Breit, Eddington—Gaunt, and Two-Body Dirac

G. Breit's original paper of 1929 postulates the Breit equation as a correction to an earlier defective equation due to Eddington and Gaunt, containing a form of interaction suggested by Heisenberg and Pauli. We observe that manifestly covariant electromagnetic Two-Body Dirac equations previously obtained by us in the framework of Relativistic Constraint Mechanics reproduce the spectral results of the Breit equation but through an interaction structure that contains that of Eddington and Gaunt. By repeating for our equation the analysis that Breit used to demonstrate the superiority of his equation to that of Eddington and Gaunt, we show that the historically unfamiliar interaction structures of Two-Body Dirac equations (in Breit-like form) are just what is needed to correct the covariant Eddington Gaunt equation without resorting to Breit's version of retardation.     

Nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in the general theory of relativity I. A general formalism

This is the first in a series of papers, the overall objective of which is the formulation of a new covariant approach to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics in classical general relativity. The object here is the development of a tractable theory for self-gravitating systems. It is argued that the “state” of an N-particle system may be characterized by an N-particle distribution function, defined in an 8N-dimensional phase space, which satisfies a collection of N conservation equations. by mapping the true physics onto a fictitious “background” spacetime, which may be chosen to satisfy some “average” field equations, one then obtains a useful covariant notion of “evolution” in response to a fluctuating “gravitational force.” For many cases of practical interest, one may suppose (i) that these fluctuating forces satisfy linear field equations and (ii) that they may be modeled by a direct interaction. In this case, one can use a relativistic projection operator formalism to derive exact closed equations for the evolution of such objects as an appropriately defined reduced one-particle distribution function. By capturing, in a natural way, the notion of a dilute gas, or impulse, approximation, one is then led to a comparatively simple equation for the one-particle distribution. If, furthermore, one treats the effects of the fluctuating forces as “localized” in space and time, one obtains a tractable kinetic equation which reduces, in the newtonian limit, to the standard Landau equation.     

Classical radiation reaction off-shell corrections to the covariant Lorentz force

We show that the problem of radiation reaction may be formulated in a space of five dimensions, with five corresponding gauge fields in the framework of the classical version of a fully gauge covariant form of the Stueckelberg–Feynman–Schwinger covariant mechanics (the zero mode fields of the 0,1,2,3 components correspond to the Maxwell fields). The particles and fields are not confined to their mass shells. We show that in the mass-shell limit, the generalized Lorentz force obtained by means of the retarded Green's functions for the five-dimensional field equations provides the classical Abraham–Lorentz–Dirac radiation reaction terms (with renormalized mass and charge). We also obtain general coupled equations for the orbit and the off-shell dynamical mass during the evolution as well as an autonomous nonlinear equation of third order for the off-shell mass. The theory does not admit radiation if the particle does not move off-shell. The structure of the equations implies that the mass-shell deviation is bounded when the external field is removed.     

Radiation Reaction of the Classical Off-Shell Relativistic Charged Particle

It has been shown by Gupta and Padmanabhan that the radiation reaction force of the Abraham–Lorentz–Dirac equation can be obtained by a coordinate transformation from the inertial frame of an accelerating charged particle to that of the laboratory. We show that the problem may be formulated in a flat space of five dimensions, with five corresponding gauge fields in the framework of the classical version of a fully gauge covariant form of the Stueckelberg–Feynman–Schwinger covariant mechanics (the zero mode fields of the 0, 1, 2, 3 components correspond to the Maxwell fields). Without additional constraints, the particles and fields are not confined to their mass shells. We show that in the mass-shell limit, the generalized Lorentz force obtained by means of the retarded Green's functions for the five dimensional field equations provides the classical Abraham–Lorentz–Dirac radiation reaction terms (with renormalized mass and charge). We also obtain general coupled equations for the orbit and the off-shell dynamical mass during the evolution as well as an autonomous non-linear equation of third order for the off-shell mass. The theory does not admit radiation if the particle does not move off-shell. The structure of the equations implies that mass-shell deviation is bounded when the external field is removed.     

Dirac Oscillator in a Galilean Covariant Non-commutative Space

We study the Galilean Dirac oscillator in a non-commutative situation, with space-space and momentum-momentum non-commutativity. The wave equation is obtained via a ‘Galilean covariant’ approach, which consists in projecting the covariant equations from a (4,1)-dimensional manifold with light-cone coordinates, to a (3,1)-dimensional Galilean space-time. We obtain the exact wave functions and their energy levels for the plane and discuss the effects of non-commutativity.     

A relativistic field theory of the electron

A set of nonlinear partial differential equations covariant in a non-Euclidean space is reduced to the Dirac equation for the electron and the Maxwell-Lorentz equations of electromagnetic fields under certain assumptions. In the course of reduction, we have opportunities for understanding the relationship between the Dirac equation and the Maxwell-Lorentz equations, and also for visualizing conditions which limit feasible applications of those known equations in physics.     

Kinetic boundary layers in gas mixtures: Systems described by nonlinearly coupled kinetic and hydrodynamic equations and applications to droplet condensation and evaporation

We consider a mixture of heavy vapor molecules and a light carrier gas surrounding a liquid droplet. The vapor is described by a variant of the Klein-Kramers equation, a kinetic equation for Brownian particles moving in a spatially inhomogeneous background; the gas is described by the Navier-Stokes equations; the droplet acts as a heat source due to the released heat of condensation. The exchange of momentum and energy between the constituents of the mixture is taken into account by force terms in the kinetic equation and source terms in the Navier-Stokes equations. These are chosen to obtain maximal agreement with the irreversible thermodynamics of a gas mixture. The structure of the kinetic boundary layer around the sphere is then determined from the self-consistent solution of this set of coupled equations with appropriate boundary conditions at the surface of the sphere. For this purpose the kinetic equation is rewritten as a set of coupled moment equations. A complete set of solutions of these moment equations is constructed by numerical integration inward from the region far away from the droplet, where the background inhomogeneities are small. A technique developed in an earlier paper is used to deal with the severe numerical instability of the moment equations. The solutions so obtained for given temperature and pressure profiles in the gas are then combined linearly in such a way that they obey the boundary conditions at the droplet surface; from this solution source terms for the Navier-Stokes equation of the gas are constructed and used to determine improved temperature and pressure profiles for the background gas. For not too large temperature differences between the droplet and the gas at infinity, self-consistency is reached after a few iterations. The method is applied to the condensation of droplets from a supersaturated vapor, where small but significant corrections to an earlier, not fully consistent version of the theory are found, as well as to strong evaporation of droplets under the influence of an external heat source, where corrections of up to 40 % are obtained.