Chapman-Enskog derivation of the generalized Smoluchowski equation

We use the Chapman-Enskog method to derive the Smoluchowski equation from the Kramers equation in a high friction limit. We consider two main extensions of this problem: we take into account a uniform rotation of the background medium and we consider a generalized class of Kramers equations associated with generalized free energy functionals. We mention applications of these results to systems with long-range interactions (self-gravitating systems, 2D vortices, bacterial populations,...). In that case, the Smoluchowski equation is non-local. In the limit of short-range interactions, it reduces to a generalized form of the Cahn-Hilliard equation. These equations are associated with an effective generalized thermodynamical formalism.Comment: In pres

Nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations. Application to the chemotaxis of biological populations

We study a general class of nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations in relation with an effective generalized thermodynamical formalism. We show that these equations describe several physical systems such as: chemotaxis of bacterial populations, Bose-Einstein condensation in the canonical ensemble, porous media, generalized Cahn-Hilliard equations, Kuramoto model, BMF model, Burgers equation, Smoluchowski-Poisson system for self-gravitating Brownian particles, Debye-Huckel theory of electrolytes, two-dimensional turbulence... In particular, we show that nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations can provide generalized Keller-Segel models describing the chemotaxis of biological populations. As an example, we introduce a new model of chemotaxis incorporating both effects of anomalous diffusion and exclusion principle (volume filling). Therefore, the notion of generalized thermodynamics can have applications for concrete physical systems. We also consider nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations in phase space and show the passage from the generalized Kramers equation to the generalized Smoluchowski equation in a strong friction limit. Our formalism is simple and illustrated by several explicit examples corresponding to Boltzmann, Tsallis and Fermi-Dirac entropies among others

General properties of nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations

Recently, several authors have tried to extend the usual concepts of thermodynamics and kinetic theory in order to deal with distributions that can be non-Boltzmannian. For dissipative systems described by the canonical ensemble, this leads to the notion of nonlinear Fokker-Planck equation (T.D. Frank, Non Linear Fokker-Planck Equations, Springer, Berlin, 2005). In this paper, we review general properties of nonlinear mean field Fokker-Planck equations, consider the passage from the generalized Kramers to the generalized Smoluchowski equation in the strong friction limit, and provide explicit examples for Boltzmann, Tsallis and Fermi-Dirac entropies.Comment: Paper presented at the international conference CTNEXT07, 1-5 july 2007, Catania, Ital

Dynamics of the Ericksen-Leslie Equations with General Leslie Stress I: The Incompressible Isotropic Case

The Ericksen-Leslie model for nematic liquid crystals in a bounded domain with general Leslie and isotropic Ericksen stress is studied in the case of a non-isothermal and incompressible fluid. This system is shown to be locally well-posed in the $L_p$-setting, and a dynamic theory is developed. The equilibria are identified and shown to be normally stable. In particular, a local solution extends to a unique, global strong solution provided the initial data are close to an equilibrium or the solution is eventually bounded in the topology of the natural state manifold. In this case, the solution converges exponentially to an equilibrium, in the topology of the state manifold. The above results are proven {\em without} any structural assumptions on the Leslie coefficients and in particular {\em without} assuming Parodi's relation

Path integrals on manifolds by finite dimensional approximation

Let M be a compact Riemannian manifold without boundary and let H be a self-adjoint generalized Laplace operator acting on sections in a bundle over M. We give a path integral formula for the solution to the corresponding heat equation. This is based on approximating path space by finite dimensional spaces of geodesic polygons. We also show a uniform convergence result for the heat kernels. This yields a simple and natural proof for the Hess-Schrader-Uhlenbrock estimate and a path integral formula for the trace of the heat operator.Comment: 23 page

H-Theorem and Generalized Entropies Within the Framework of Non Linear Kinetics

In the present effort we consider the most general non linear particle kinetics within the framework of the Fokker-Planck picture. We show that the kinetics imposes the form of the generalized entropy and subsequently we demonstrate the H-theorem. The particle statistical distribution is obtained, both as stationary solution of the non linear evolution equation and as the state which maximizes the generalized entropy. The present approach allows to treat the statistical distributions already known in the literature in a unifying scheme. As a working example we consider the kinetics, constructed by using the $\kappa$-exponential $\exp_{_{\{\kappa\}}}(x)= (\sqrt{1+\kappa^2x^2}+\kappa x)^{1/\kappa}$ recently proposed which reduces to the standard exponential as the deformation parameter $\kappa$ approaches to zero and presents the relevant power law asymptotic behaviour $\exp_{_{\{\kappa\}}}(x){\atop\stackrel\sim x\to \pm \infty}|2\kappa x|^{\pm 1/|\kappa|}$. The $\kappa$-kinetics obeys the H-theorem and in the case of Brownian particles, admits as stationary state the distribution $f=Z^{-1}\exp_{_{\{\kappa\}}}[-(\beta mv^2/2-\mu)]$ which can be obtained also by maximizing the entropy $S_{\kappa}=\int d^n v [ c(\kappa)f^{1+\kappa}+c(-\kappa)f^{1-\kappa}]$ with $c(\kappa)=-Z^{\kappa}/ [2\kappa(1+\kappa)]$ after properly constrained.Comment: To appear in Phys. Lett.

Generalized Fokker-Planck equations and effective thermodynamics

We introduce a new class of Fokker-Planck equations associated with an effective generalized thermodynamical framework. These equations describe a gas of Langevin particles in interaction. The free energy can take various forms which can account for anomalous diffusion, quantum statistics, lattice models... When the potential of interaction is long-ranged, these equations display a rich structure associated with canonical phase transitions and blow-up phenomena. In the limit of short-range interactions, they reduce to Cahn-Hilliard equations