Hyperbolic conservation laws with discontinuous fluxes and hydrodynamic limit for particle systems

We study the following class of scalar hyperbolic conservation laws with discontinuous fluxes:

(0.1)     

N/V-limit for stochastic dynamics in continuous particle systems

We provide an N/V-limit for the infinite particle, infinite volume stochastic dynamics associated with Gibbs states in continuous particle systems on ℝ ^d ,d≥1. Starting point is an N-particle stochastic dynamic with singular interaction and reflecting boundary condition in a subset Λ⊂ℝ ^d with finite volume (Lebesgue measure) V=|Λ|<∞. The aim is to approximate the infinite particle, infinite volume stochastic dynamic by the above N-particle dynamic in Λ as N→∞ and V→∞ such that N/V→ρ, where ρ is the particle density. First we derive an improved Ruelle bound for the canonical correlation functions under an appropriate relation between N and V. Then tightness is shown by using the Lyons–Zheng decomposition. The equilibrium measures of the accumulation points are identified as infinite volume canonical Gibbs measures by an integration by parts formula and the accumulation points themselves are identified as infinite particle, infinite volume stochastic dynamics via the associated martingale problem. Assuming a property closely related to Markov uniqueness and weaker than essential self-adjointness, via Mosco convergence techniques we can identify the accumulation points as Markov processes and show uniqueness. I.e., all accumulation corresponding to one invariant canonical Gibbs measure coincide. The proofs work for general repulsive interaction potentials ϕ of Ruelle type and all temperatures, densities, and dimensions d≥1, respectively. ϕ may have a nontrivial negative part and infinite range as e.g. the Lennard–Jones potential. Additionally, our result provides as a by-product an approximation of grand canonical Gibbs measures by finite volume canonical Gibbs measures with empty boundary condition.     

Two scales hydrodynamic limit for a model of malignant tumor cells

We consider a model introduced in [S. Luckhaus, L. Triolo, The continuum reaction-diffusion limit of a stochastic cellular growth model, Rend. Acc. Lincei (S.9) 15 (2004) 215-223] with two species (η and ξ) of particles, representing respectively malignant and normal cells. The basic motions of the η particles are independent random walks, scaled diffusively. The ξ particles move on a slower time scale and obey an exclusion rule among themselves and with the η particles. The competition between the two species is ruled by a coupled birth and death process. We prove convergence in the hydrodynamic limit to a system of two reaction-diffusion equations with measure valued initial data.     

The scaling limit for a stochastic PDE and the separation of phases

Summary We investigate the problem of singular perturbation for a reaction-diffusion equation with additive noise (or a stochastic partial differential equation of Ginzburg-Landau type) under the situation that the reaction term is determined by a potential with double-wells of equal depth. As the parameter (the temperature of the system) tends to 0, the solution converges to one of the two stable phases and consequently the phase separation is formed in the limit. We derive a stochastic differential equation which describes the random movement of the phase separation point. The proof consists of two main steps. We show that the solution stays near a manifoldM of minimal energy configurations based on a Lyapunov type argument. Then, the limit equation is identified by introducing a nice coordinate system in a neighborhood ofM .Research partially supported by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science     

Fluctuations of the front in a stochastic combustion model

We consider an interacting particle system on the one-dimensional lattice Z modeling combustion. The process depends on two integer parameters 2?a?M<∞. Particles move independently as continuous time simple symmetric random walks except that (i) when a particle jumps to a site which has not been previously visited by any particle, it branches into a particles, (ii) when a particle jumps to a site with M particles, it is annihilated. We start from a configuration where all sites to the left of the origin have been previously visited and study the law of large numbers and central limit theorem for rt, the rightmost visited site at time t. The proofs are based on the construction of a renewal structure leading to a definition of regeneration times for which good tail estimates can be performed.     

Shock fluctuations in the asymmetric simple exclusion process

Summary We consider the one dimensional nearest neighbors asymmetric simple exclusion process with ratesq andp for left and right jumps respectively;q<p. Ferrari et al. (1991) have shown that if the initial measure isv _, , a product measure with densities and to the left and right of the origin respectively, <, then there exists a (microscopic) shock for the system. A shock is a random positionX _t such that the system as seen from this position at timet has asymptotic product distributions with densities and to the left and right of the origin respectively, uniformly int. We compute the diffusion coefficient of the shockD=lim _t t ^–1(E(X _t )²–(EX _t )²) and findD=(p–q)(–)^–1((1–)+(1–)) as conjectured by Spohn (1991). We show that in the scale the position ofX _t is determined by the initial distribution of particles in a region of length proportional tot. We prove that the distribution of the process at the average position of the shock converges to a fair mixture of the product measures with densities and . This is the so called dynamical phase transition. Under shock initial conditions we show how the density fluctuation fields depend on the initial configuration.     

Conformal covariance of the Abelian sandpile height one field

We study the scaling limit for the height one field of the two-dimensional Abelian sandpile model. The scaling limit for the covariance having height one at two macroscopically distant sites, more generally the centred height one joint moment of a finite number of macroscopically distant sites, is identified and shown to be conformally covariant. The result is based on a representation of the height one joint intensities that is close to a block-determinantal structure.     

Coexistence of infinite (*)-clusters II. Ising percolation in two dimensions

Summary We show a strong type of conditionally mixing property for the Gibbs states ofd-dimensional Ising model when the temperature is above the critical one. By using this property, we show that there is always coexistence of infinite (+ *)-and (–*)-clusters when is smaller than _c andh=0 in two dimensions. It is also possible to show that this coexistence region extends to some non-zero external field case, i.e., for every < _c, there exists someh _c()>0 such that |h|<h _c() implies the coexistence of infinite (*)-clusters with respect to the Gibbs state for (,h).work supported in part by Grant in Aid for Cooperative research no. 03302010, Grant in Aid for Scientific Research no. 03640056 and ISM Cooperative research program (91-ISM,CRP-3)To the memory of Professor Haruo Totoki     

Zero-range condensation at criticality

Zero-range processes with jump rates that decrease with the number of particles per site can exhibit a condensation transition, where a positive fraction of all particles condenses on a single site when the total density exceeds a critical value. We consider rates which decay as a power law or a stretched exponential to a non-zero limiting value, and study the onset of condensation at the critical density. We establish a law of large numbers for the excess mass fraction in the maximum, as well as distributional limits for the fluctuations of the maximum and the fluctuations in the bulk.     

Hydrodynamical limit for spatially heterogeneous simple exclusion processes

Summary.   We prove hydrodynamical limit for spatially heterogeneous, asymmetric simple exclusion processes on Z ^d . The jump rate of particles depends on the macroscopic position x through some nonnegative, smooth velocity profile α(x). Hydrodynamics are described by the entropy solution to a spatially heterogeneous conservation law of the form

Non-Markovianity of the Boltzmann-Grad limit of a system of random obstacles in a given force field

In this paper we consider a particle moving in a random distribution of obstacles. Each obstacle is absorbing and a fixed force field is imposed. We show rigorously that certain (very smooth) fields prevent the process obtained by the Boltzmann-Grad limit from being Markovian. Then, we propose a slightly different setting which allows this difficulty to be removed.     

Random walk on the infinite cluster of the percolation model

Summary We consider random walk on the infinite cluster of bond percolation on ^d . We show that, in the supercritical regime whend3, this random walk is a.s. transient. This conclusion is achieved by considering the infinite percolation cluster as a random electrical network in which each open edge has unit resistance. It is proved that the effective resistance of this network between a nominated point and the points at infinity is almost surely finite.G.R.G. acknowledges support from Cornell University, and also partial support by the U.S. Army Research Office through the Mathematical Sciences Institute of Cornell UniversityH.K. was supported in part by the N.S.F. through a grant to Cornell University     

Hammersley's interacting particle process and longest increasing subsequences

Summary In a famous paper [8] Hammersley investigated the lengthL _n of the longest increasing subsequence of a randomn-permutation. Implicit in that paper is a certain one-dimensional continuous-space interacting particle process. By studying a hydrodynamical limit for Hammersley's process we show by fairly “soft” arguments that limn ^′1/2 EL _n =2. This is a known result, but previous proofs [14, 11] relied on hard analysis of combinatorial asymptotics. Research supported by NSF Grant MCS 92-24857 and the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science Research supported by NSF Grant DMS92-04864     

Harness processes and harmonic crystals

In the Hammersley harness processes the R$\mathbb{R}$-valued height at each site i∈Z^d$i\in {\mathbb{Z}}^d$ is updated at rate 1 to an average of the neighboring heights plus a centered random variable (the noise). We construct the process “a la Harris” simultaneously for all times and boxes contained in Z^d${\mathbb{Z}}^d$. With this representation we compute covariances and show L²$L^2$ and almost sure time and space convergence of the process. In particular, the process started from the flat configuration and viewed from the height at the origin converges to an invariant measure. In dimension three and higher, the process itself converges to an invariant measure in L²$L^2$ at speed t^1−d/2$t^{1-d/2}$ (this extends the convergence established by Hsiao). When the noise is Gaussian the limiting measures are Gaussian fields (harmonic crystals) and are also reversible for the process.     

Onset and structure of interfaces in a Kawasaki+Glauber interacting particle system

Summary We investigate the spatial structure of typical configurations of a reaction-diffusion spin system (Kawasaki+Glauber model), following the noise induced escape from an unstable spatially homogeneous state. After the escape, the system will be locally in a stationary phase, but will display a globally nontrivial spatial behavior, characterized by large clusters of the (two) different phases. The system can be spatially rescaled according to the typical linear dimension of the clusters and, on this space scale, regions of the opposite phases are separated by smooth (hyper) surfaces, called interfaces. The location of the interfaces is determined by means of the zero-level set of the trajectories of a Gaussian random field. This paper is devoted primarily to the characterization of the structure which appears on a finer scale (the hydrodynamical one) at the interface. A better understanding of the dynamics of the escape (especially in its last and nonlinear stage) leads to substantial improvements of the results in [7, 12].This research has been partly supported by NSF grant DMR 92-13424 and by a CNR fellowship     

Existence and uniqueness of an invariant measure for a chain of oscillators in contact with two heat baths

In this note we consider a chain of N$N$ oscillators, whose ends are in contact with two heat baths at different temperatures. Our main result is the exponential convergence to the unique invariant probability measure (the stationary state). We use the Lyapunov’s function technique of Rey-Bellet and coauthors [Luc Rey-Bellet, Statistical mechanics of anharmonic lattices, in: Advances in Differential Equations and Mathematical Physics (Birmingham, AL, 2002), in: Contemp. Math., vol. 327, Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2003, pp. 283–298. MR MR1991548 (2005a:82068) [11]; Luc Rey-Bellet, Lawrence E. Thomas, Fluctuations of the entropy production in anharmonic chains, Ann. Henri Poincaré 3 (3) (2002) 483–502. MR MR1915300 (2003g:82060); Luc Rey-Bellet, Lawrence E. Thomas, Exponential convergence to non-equilibrium stationary states in classical statistical mechanics, Comm. Math. Phys. 225 (2) (2002) 305–329. MR MR1889227 (2003f:82052); Luc Rey-Bellet, Lawrence E. Thomas, Asymptotic behavior of thermal nonequilibrium steady states for a driven chain of anharmonic oscillators, Comm. Math. Phys. 215 (1) (2000) 1–24. MR MR1799873 (2001k:82061) [12]; Jean-Pierre Eckmann, Claude-Alain Pillet, Luc Rey-Bellet, Non-equilibrium statistical mechanics of anharmonic chains coupled to two heat baths at different temperatures, Comm. Math. Phys. 201 (3) (1999) 657–697. MR MR1685893 (2000d:82025); Jean-Pierre Eckmann, Claude-Alain Pillet, Luc Rey-Bellet, Entropy production in nonlinear, thermally driven Hamiltonian systems, J. Statist. Phys. 95 (1–2) (1999) 305–331. MR MR1705589 (2000h:82075)], with different model of heat baths, and adapt these techniques to two new case recently considered in the literature by Bernardin and Olla [Cédric Bernardin, Stefano Olla, Fourier’s law for a microscopic model of heat conduction, J. Statist. Phys. 121 (3–4) (2005) 271–289. MR MR2185330] and Lefevere and Schenkel [R. Lefevere, A. Schenkel, Normal heat conductivity in a strongly pinned chain of anharmonic oscillators, J. Stat. Mech. Theory Exp. 2006 (02) (2006) L02001].     

Gibbs states of the Hopfield model in the regime of perfect memory

Summary We study the thermodynamic properties of the Hopfield model of an autoassociative memory. IfN denotes the number of neurons andM (N) the number of stored patterns, we prove the following results: IfM/N 0 asN , then there exists an infinite number of infinite volume Gibbs measures for all temperaturesT<1 concentrated on spin configurations that have overlap with exactly one specific pattern. Moreover, the measures induced on the overlap parameters are Dirac measures concentrated on a single point and the Gibbs measures on spin configurations are products of Bernoulli measures. IfM/N , asN for small enough, we show that for temperaturesT smaller than someT()<1, the induced measures can have support only on a disjoint union of balls around the previous points, but we cannot construct the infinite volume measures through convergent sequences of measures.Work partially supported by the Commission of the European Communities under contract No. SC1-CT91-0695     

Large deviations and the equivalence of ensembles for Gibbsian particle systems with superstable interaction

Summary For Gibbsian systems of particles inR ^d , we investigate large deviations of the translation invariant empirical fields in increasing boxes. The particle interaction is given by a superstable, regular pair potential. The large deviation principle is established for systems with free or periodic boundary conditions and, under a stronger stability hypothesis on the potential, for systems with tempered boundary conditions, and for tempered (infinite-volume) Gibbs measures. As a by-product we obtain the Gibbs variational formula for the pressure. We also prove the asymptotic equivalence of microcanonical and grand canonical Gibbs distributions and establish a variational expression for the thermodynamic entropy density.     

Central limit theorem for a tagged particle in asymmetric simple exclusion

We prove a functional central limit theorem for the position of a tagged particle in the one-dimensional asymmetric simple exclusion process for hyperbolic scaling, starting from a Bernoulli product measure conditioned to have a particle at the origin. We also prove that the position of the tagged particle at time t$t$ depends on the initial configuration, through the number of empty sites in the interval [0,(p−q)αt]$[0,(p-q)\alpha t]$ divided by α$\alpha$, on the hyperbolic time scale and on a longer time scale, namely N^4/3$N^{4/3}$.