8,123 research outputs found
A blob method for diffusion
As a counterpoint to classical stochastic particle methods for diffusion, we
develop a deterministic particle method for linear and nonlinear diffusion. At
first glance, deterministic particle methods are incompatible with diffusive
partial differential equations since initial data given by sums of Dirac masses
would be smoothed instantaneously: particles do not remain particles. Inspired
by classical vortex blob methods, we introduce a nonlocal regularization of our
velocity field that ensures particles do remain particles, and we apply this to
develop a numerical blob method for a range of diffusive partial differential
equations of Wasserstein gradient flow type, including the heat equation, the
porous medium equation, the Fokker-Planck equation, the Keller-Segel equation,
and its variants. Our choice of regularization is guided by the Wasserstein
gradient flow structure, and the corresponding energy has a novel form,
combining aspects of the well-known interaction and potential energies. In the
presence of a confining drift or interaction potential, we prove that
minimizers of the regularized energy exist and, as the regularization is
removed, converge to the minimizers of the unregularized energy. We then
restrict our attention to nonlinear diffusion of porous medium type with at
least quadratic exponent. Under sufficient regularity assumptions, we prove
that gradient flows of the regularized energies converge to solutions of the
porous medium equation. As a corollary, we obtain convergence of our numerical
blob method, again under sufficient regularity assumptions. We conclude by
considering a range of numerical examples to demonstrate our method's rate of
convergence to exact solutions and to illustrate key qualitative properties
preserved by the method, including asymptotic behavior of the Fokker-Planck
equation and critical mass of the two-dimensional Keller-Segel equation
Removing the Big Bang Singularity: The role of the generalized uncertainty principle in quantum gravity
The possibility of avoiding the big bang singularity by means of a
generalized uncertainty principle is investigated. In relation with this
matter, the statistical mechanics of a free-particle system obeying the
generalized uncertainty principle is studied and it is shown that the entropy
of the system has a finite value in the infinite temperature limit. It is then
argued that negative temperatures and negative pressures are possible in this
system. Finally, it is shown that this model can remove the big bang
singularity.Comment: 8 pages, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc
Stochastic Flux-Freezing and Magnetic Dynamo
We argue that magnetic flux-conservation in turbulent plasmas at high
magnetic Reynolds numbers neither holds in the conventional sense nor is
entirely broken, but instead is valid in a novel statistical sense associated
to the "spontaneous stochasticity" of Lagrangian particle tra jectories. The
latter phenomenon is due to the explosive separation of particles undergoing
turbulent Richardson diffusion, which leads to a breakdown of Laplacian
determinism for classical dynamics. We discuss empirical evidence for
spontaneous stochasticity, including our own new numerical results. We then use
a Lagrangian path-integral approach to establish stochastic flux-freezing for
resistive hydromagnetic equations and to argue, based on the properties of
Richardson diffusion, that flux-conservation must remain stochastic at infinite
magnetic Reynolds number. As an important application of these results we
consider the kinematic, fluctuation dynamo in non-helical, incompressible
turbulence at unit magnetic Prandtl number. We present results on the
Lagrangian dynamo mechanisms by a stochastic particle method which demonstrate
a strong similarity between the Pr = 1 and Pr = 0 dynamos. Stochasticity of
field-line motion is an essential ingredient of both. We finally consider
briefly some consequences for nonlinear MHD turbulence, dynamo and reconnectionComment: 29 pages, 10 figure
Fast Magnetic Reconnection and Spontaneous Stochasticity
Magnetic field-lines in astrophysical plasmas are expected to be frozen-in at
scales larger than the ion gyroradius. The rapid reconnection of magnetic flux
structures with dimensions vastly larger than the gyroradius requires a
breakdown in the standard Alfv\'en flux-freezing law. We attribute this
breakdown to ubiquitous MHD plasma turbulence with power-law scaling ranges of
velocity and magnetic energy spectra. Lagrangian particle trajectories in such
environments become "spontaneously stochastic", so that infinitely-many
magnetic field-lines are advected to each point and must be averaged to obtain
the resultant magnetic field. The relative distance between initial magnetic
field lines which arrive to the same final point depends upon the properties of
two-particle turbulent dispersion. We develop predictions based on the
phenomenological Goldreich & Sridhar theory of strong MHD turbulence and on
weak MHD turbulence theory. We recover the predictions of the Lazarian &
Vishniac theory for the reconnection rate of large-scale magnetic structures.
Lazarian & Vishniac also invoked "spontaneous stochasticity", but of the
field-lines rather than of the Lagrangian trajectories. More recent theories of
fast magnetic reconnection appeal to microscopic plasma processes that lead to
additional terms in the generalized Ohm's law, such as the collisionless Hall
term. We estimate quantitatively the effect of such processes on the
inertial-range turbulence dynamics and find them to be negligible in most
astrophysical environments. For example, the predictions of the
Lazarian-Vishniac theory are unchanged in Hall MHD turbulence with an extended
inertial range, whenever the ion skin depth is much smaller than the
turbulent integral length or injection-scale Comment: 31 pages, 5 figure
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