Long-time behavior of the Lorentz electron gas in a constant,uniform electric field

The long-time behavior of the Lorentz electron gas is studied in the presence of a uniform external field. A discussion of the rigorous solution of the one-dimensional Boltzmann equation is followed by the derivation of the asymptotic form of the velocity distribution in an arbitrary number of dimensions. The system is shown to absorb energy from the field without bounds, which excludes the usually assumed steady state with finite thermal energy density.Supported by the Polish Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Project MR.I.7.The authors are very grateful to Dr. Y. Pomeau for many valuable comments.     

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.     

Lorentz lattice gases: Basic theory

We present several ballistic models of the Lorentz gas in two-dimensional lattices with deterministic and stochastic deflection rules, and their corresponding Liouville equations. Boltzmann-level-equation results are obtained for the diffusion coefficient and velocity autocorrelation function for models with stochastic deflection rules. The long-time behavior of the mean square displacement is briefly discussed and the possibility of abnormal diffusion indicated. Even if the diffusion coefficient exists, its low-density limit may not be given correctly by the Boltzmann equation.     

Example of diffusion in a disordered Lorentz gas

We prove a diffusion law for a disordered Lorentz gas obtained by modification of a model of Gates, Gerst, Kac in Ref. 1, even though the motion is not a Markovian one in the technical sense of the word.     

Diffusion in a periodic Lorentz gas

We use a constant driving forceF _d together with a Gaussian thermostatting constraint forceF _d to simulate a nonequilibrium steady-state current (particle velocity) in a periodic, two-dimensional, classical Lorentz gas. The ratio of the average particle velocity to the driving force (field strength) is the Lorentz-gas conductivity. A regular Galton-board lattice of fixed particles is arranged in a dense triangular-lattice structure. The moving scatterer particle travels through the lattice at constant kinetic energy, making elastic hard-disk collisions with the fixed particles. At low field strengths the nonequilibrium conductivity is statistically indistinguishable from the equilibrium Green-Kubo estimate of Machta and Zwanzig. The low-field conductivity varies smoothly, but in a complicated way, with field strength. For moderate fields the conductivity generally decreases nearly linearly with field, but is nearly discontinuous at certain values where interesting stable cycles of collisions occur. As the field is increased, the phase-space probability density drops in apparent fractal dimensionality from 3 to 1. We compare the nonlinear conductivity with similar zero-density results from the two-particle Boltzmann equation. We also tabulate the variation of the kinetic pressure as a function of the field strength,     

Three-dimensional Lorentz model in a magnetic field: Exact and Chapman–Enskog solutions

We derive the exact solution of the Boltzmann kinetic equation for the three-dimensional Lorentz model in the presence of a constant and uniform magnetic field. The velocity distribution of the electrons reduces exponentially fast to its spherically symmetric component. In the long time hydrodynamic limit there remains only the diffusion process governed by an anisotropic diffusion tensor. The systematic way of building the Chapman–Enskog solutions is described.     

Field-dependent conductivity and diffusion in a two-dimensional Lorentz gas

The conductivity and diffusion of a color-charged two-dimensional thermostatted Lorentz gas in a color field is studied by a variety of methods. In this gas, point particles move through a regular triangular array of soft scatterers, where, in the presence of a field, a nonequilibrium stationary state is reached by coupling to a Gaussian thermostat. The zero-field conductivity and diffusion coefficient are computed with equilibrium molecular dynamics dynamics from the Green-Kubo formula and the Einstein relation. Their values are consistent and approach those obtained by Machta and Zwanzig in the limit of hard (disk) scatterers. The field-dependent conductivity is obtained from its constitutive relation, from the coupling constant to the thermostat, and by using the recently derived conjugate pairing rule of Evans, Cohen, and Morriss, from the two maximal Lyapunov exponents of the Lorentz gas in the stationary state. All these methods give consistent results. Finally, elements of the field-dependent diffusion tensor have been computed. At zero field, they are consistent with the zero-field conductivity, but they vanish beyond a critical field strength, suggesting a dynamical phase transition at the critical field; the conductivity appears to remain finite, approaching a constant value for large field strengths.     

The computational complexity of the Lorentz lattice gas

The Lorentz lattice gas is studied from the perspective of computational complexity theory. It is shown that using massive parallelism, particle trajectories can be simulated in a time that scales logarithmically in the length of the trajectory. This result characterizes the logical depth of the Lorentz lattice gas and allows us to compare it to other models in statistical physics.     

等离子体中充入工作气体抑制电子逃逸行为分析

利用NaI闪烁体探测器组成的伽马射线探测系统和BF₃正比计数管、³He正比计数管和ZnS闪烁体探测器组成的中子探测系统,研究了欧姆放电平稳阶段充入工作气体后对逃逸电子产生过程的影响.实验结果表明:在欧姆放电平稳阶段充入工作气体严重影响了逃逸电子行为,充入的工作气体能有效抑制逃逸电子的产生.     

等离子体中充入工作气体抑制电子逃逸行为分析

利用NaI闪烁体探测器组成的伽马射线探测系统和BF3 正比计数管、3He正比计数管和ZnS闪烁体探测器组成的中子探测系统,研究了欧姆放电平稳阶段充入工作气体后对逃逸电子产生过程的影响。实验结果表明：在欧姆放电平稳阶段充入工作气体严重影响了逃逸电子行为,充入的工作气体能有效抑制逃逸电子的产生。     

On the Boltzmann equation for the Lorentz gas

We consider the Boltzmann-Grad limit for the Lorentz, or wind-tree, model. We prove that if is a fixed configuration of scatterer centers belonging to a set of full measure with respect to the Poisson distribution with parameter >0, then the evolution of an initial a.c. particle density tends in the Boltzmann-Grad limit to the solution of the Boltzmann equation for the model. As an intermediate step we prove that the process of the free path lengths and impact parameters induced by the Lebesgue measure on a small region tends to a limiting independent process.     

Systematic Density Expansion of the Lyapunov Exponents for a Two-Dimensional Random Lorentz Gas

We study the Lyapunov exponents of a two-dimensional, random Lorentz gas at low density. The positive Lyapunov exponent may be obtained either by a direct analysis of the dynamics, or by the use of kinetic theory methods. To leading orders in the density of scatterers it is of the form A ₀ñln ñ+B ₀ñ, where A ₀ and B ₀ are known constants and ñ is the number density of scatterers expressed in dimensionless units. In this paper, we find that through order (ñ²), the positive Lyapunov exponent is of the form A ₀ñln ñ+B ₀ñ+A ₁ñ²ln ñ +B ₁ñ². Explicit numerical values of the new constants A ₁ and B ₁ are obtained by means of a systematic analysis. This takes into account, up to O(ñ²), the effects of all possible trajectories in two versions of the model; in one version overlapping scatterer configurations are allowed and in the other they are not.     

An approximate formula for the diffusion coefficient for the periodic Lorentz gas

An approximate stochastic model for the topological dynamics of the periodic triangular Lorentz gas is constructed. The model, together with an extremum principle, is used to find a closed form approximation to the diffusion coefficient as a function of the lattice spacing. This approximation is superior to the popular Machta and Zwanzig result and agrees well with a range of numerical estimates.     

Decay of correlations in the regular Lorentz gas

The regular Lorentz gas on triangular lattice is studied numerically and analytically. The velocity correlation function is shown to decay exponentially in the number of collisions with a decay rate which vanishes as the scatterers approach close packing. The crossover to power law decay at close packing is described by a scaling function.     

Long-Time-Tail Effects on Lyapunov Exponents of a Random, Two-Dimensional Field-Driven Lorentz Gas

We study the Lyapunov exponents for a moving, charged particle in a two-dimensional Lorentz gas with randomly placed, nonoverlapping hard-disk scatterers in a thermostatted electric field, . The low-density values of the Lyapunov exponents have been calculated with the use of an extended Lorentz–Boltzmann equation. In this paper we develop a method to extend theses results to higher density, using the BBGKY hierarchy equations and extending them to include the additional variables needed for calculation of the Lyapunov exponents. We then consider the effects of correlated collision sequences, due to the so-called ring events, on the Lyapunov exponents. For small values of the applied electric field, the ring terms lead to nonanalytic, field-dependent contributions to both the positive and negative Lyapunov exponents which are of the form ~ ²ln~, where ~ is a dimensionless parameter proportional to the strength of the applied field. We show that these nonanalytic terms can be understood as resulting from the change in the collision frequency from its equilibrium value due to the presence of the thermostatted field, and that the collision frequency also contains such nonanalytic terms.     

On the mechanism of the runaway of electrons in a gas: The upper branch of the paschen curve

Basing on the simulation results, it is shown that the Townsend mechanism of electron multiplication in a gas at sufficiently large interelectrode distances is valid at least up to such large values of E/p at which relativistic electrons are generated. Correspondingly, the runaway electron producing in a gas is determined not by the local criteria accepted presently, but by the ratio of interelectrode distance and the characteristic electron multiplication length. It is shown that the critical discharge voltage U, at which the runaway electrons appear in a given gas, is a function of the product of the interelectrode distance by the gas pressure. This function (U-pd dependence) defines not only well-known Paschen curve but also an additional branch, which describes the absence of a self-sustained discharge at a high voltages sufficiently rapidly supplied across the electrodes. Critical discharge voltage dependence for helium and xenon are presented.     

Measures with infinite Lyapunov exponents for the periodic Lorentz gas

We study invariant measures for the periodic Lorentz gas which are supported on the set of points with infinite Lyapunov exponents. We construct examples of such measures which are measures of maximal entropy and ones which are not.     

Diffusion in Lorentz lattice gas automata with backscattering

The probability of first return to the initial intervalx and the diffusion tensorD _x are calculated exactly for a ballistic Lorentz gas on a Bethe lattice or Cayley tree. It consists of a moving particle and a fixed array of scatterers, located at the nodes, and the lengths of the intervals between scatterers are determined by a geometric distribution. The same values forx andD _x apply also to a regular space lattice with a fraction of sites occupied by a scatterer in the limit of a small concentration of scatterers. If backscattering occurs, the results are very different from the Boltzmann approximation. The theory is applied to different types of lattices and different types of scatterers having rotational or mirror symmetries.     

Dynamical chaos in the Lorentz lattice gas

This paper provides an introduction to the applications of dynamical systems theory to nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, in particular to a study of nonequilibrium phenomena in Lorentz lattice gases with stochastic collision rules. Using simple arguments, based upon discussions in the mathematical literature, we show that such lattice gases belong to the category of dynamical systems with positive Lyapunov exponents. This is accomplished by showing how such systems can be expressed in terms of continuous phase space variables. Expressions for the Lyapunov exponent of a one-dimensional Lorentz lattice gas with periodic boundaries are derived. Other quantities of interest for the theory of irreversible processes are discussed.     

Statistical properties of the periodic Lorentz gas. Multidimensional case

In 1981 Bunimovich and Sinai established the statistical properties of the planar periodic Lorentz gas with finite horizon. Our aim is to extend their theory to the multidimensional Lorentz gas. In that case the Markov partitions of the Bunimovich-Sinai type, the main tool of their theory, are not available. We use a crude approximation to such partitions, which we call Markov sieves. Their construction in many dimensions is essentially different from that in two dimensions; it requires more routine calculations and intricate arguments. We try to avoid technical details and outline the construction of the Markov sieves in mostly qualitative, heuristic terms, hoping to carry out our plan in full detail elsewhere. Modulo that construction, our proofs are conclusive. In the end, we obtain a stretched-exponential bound for the decay of correlations, the central limit theorem, and Donsker's Invariance Principle for multidimensional periodic Lorentz gases with finite horizon.