Forty articles have been recently published in EPJD as contributions to the
topical issue "Theory and applications of the Vlasov equation". The aim of this
topical issue was to provide a forum for the presentation of a broad variety of
scientific results involving the Vlasov equation. In this editorial, after some
introductory notes, a brief account is given of the main points addressed in
these papers and of the perspectives they open.Comment: Editoria