Fast Diffusion to Self-Similarity: Complete Spectrum,Long-Time Asymptotics,and Numerology

The complete spectrum is determined for the operator on the Sobolev space W^1,2(Rⁿ) formed by closing the smooth functions of compact support with respect to the norm Here the Barenblatt profile is the stationary attractor of the rescaled diffusion equation in the fast, supercritical regime m the same diffusion dynamics represent the steepest descent down an entropy E(u) on probability measures with respect to the Wasserstein distance d₂. Formally, the operator H=HessE is the Hessian of this entropy at its minimum , so the spectral gap H:=2–n(1–m) found below suggests the sharp rate of asymptotic convergence: from any centered initial data 0u(0,x)L¹(Rⁿ) with second moments. This bound improves various results in the literature, and suggests the conjecture that the self-similar solution u(t,x)=R(t)^–n(x/R(t)) is always slowest to converge. The higher eigenfunctions – which are polynomials with hypergeometric radial parts – and the presence of continuous spectrum yield additional insight into the relations between symmetries of Rⁿ and the flow. Thus the rate of convergence can be improved if we are willing to replace the distance to with the distance to its nearest mass-preserving dilation (or still better, affine image). The strange numerology of the spectrum is explained in terms of the number of moments of .Dedicated to Elliott H. Lieb on the occasion of his 70th birthday.