A maxwellian lower bound for solutions to the Boltzmann equation

We prove that the solution of the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation is bounded pointwise from below by a Maxwellian, i.e. a function of the formc ₁ exp(-c ₂ v ²). This holds for any initial data with bounded mass, energy and entropy, and for any positive timet≧t ₀. The constantsc ₁, andc ₂, depend on the mass, energy and entropy of the initial data, and ont ₀>0 only. A similar result is obtained for the Kac caricature of the Boltzmann equation, where the proof is easier.