New papers

Generator functions and their applications

ttn12 fluid dynamics, Kinetic theory, New papers , , , ,

The Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem is a classical convenient tool to construct analytic solutions to partial differential equations, which allows one to view and treat them as if they are ordinary differential equations:

\displaystyle u_t = F(t,x,u,u_x)

for unknown functions {u(t,x)} in {t\ge 0} and {x\in \mathbb{R}^d} (or some spatial domain). Roughly, if {F(t,x,u,w)} is locally analytic near a point {(0,x_0,u_0,w_0)} then the PDE has a unique solution {u(t,x)} which is analytic near {(0,x_0)}, as established by Cauchy (1842) and generalized by Kovalevskaya as part of her dissertation (1875). The theorem has found many applications such as in fluid dynamics and kinetic theory where it is used to provide existence of analytic solutions including those that are obtained at certain asymptotic limits (e.g., inviscid limit, Boltzmann-to-fluid limit, Landau damping, inviscid damping,…). There are modern formulations of the abstract theorem: see, for instance, Asano, Baouendi and Goulaouic, Caflisch, Nirenberg, and Safonov. In this blog post, I present generator functions, as an alternative approach to the use of the Cauchy-Kovalevskaya theorem, recently introduced in my joint work with E. Grenier (ENS Lyon), and discuss the versatility and simplicity of their use to applications. In addition to providing existence of analytic solutions, I will also mention another use of generator functions to capture some physics that would be otherwise missed for analytic data (namely, an analyticity framework to capture physical phenomena that are not seen for analytic data!).

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Stability of source defects in oscillatory media

ttn12 New papers , ,

Patterns are ubiquitous in nature, and understanding their formation and their dynamical behavior is always challenging and of great interest. Examples include patterns in fluids (e.g., Rayleigh-Benard convection between two flat plates, Taylor-Couette flow between rotating cylinders, surface waves in hydrothermal fluid flows,…), as well as in nonlinear optics, oscillatory chemical reactions and excitable biological media. Many of them arise from linear instabilities of an homogenous equilibrium, having space, time, or space-time periodic coherent structures such as wave trains (spatially periodic travelling waves). In presence of boundaries or defects, complex patterns form and thus break the symmetry or the periodic structures. Below, I shall briefly discuss some defect structures and my recent work on the subject.

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On the non-relativistic limit of Vlasov-Maxwell

ttn12 Kinetic theory, New papers, Plasma Physics , , ,

In this note, I briefly explain my recent joint work with D. Han-Kwan (CNRS, Ecole polytechnique) and F. Rousset (Paris-Sud) on the non-relativistic limit of Vlassov-Maxwell. Precisely, we consider the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell system, modeling the dynamics of electrons with electron density distribution {f(t,x,v)}, which reads

\displaystyle \partial_t f + \hat v \cdot \nabla_x f + (E + \epsilon \hat v \times B)\cdot \nabla_v f = 0

on {\mathbb{T}^3\times \mathbb{R}^3}, with the relativistic velocity {\hat v = v/\sqrt{1+ \epsilon^2 |v|^2}}.

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Invalidity of Prandtl’s boundary layers

ttn12 boundary layers, fluid dynamics, Instabilities, New papers , ,

I’ve just submitted this paper with Grenier (ENS Lyon) which studies Prandtl’s boundary layer asymptotic expansions for incompressible fluids on the half-space in the inviscid limit. In 1904, Prandtl introduced his well known boundary layers in order to describe the transition from Navier-Stokes to Euler equations in the inviscid limit.

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Green function for linearized Navier-Stokes around boundary layers: away from critical layers

ttn12 boundary layers, fluid dynamics, New papers , ,

I’ve just submitted this new paper with E. Grenier (ENS de Lyon) on arxiv (scheduled to announce next Tuesday 1:00GMT), in which we construct the Green function for the classical Orr-Sommerfeld equations and derive sharp semigroup bounds for linearized Navier-Stokes equations around a boundary layer profile. This is part of the long program to understand the stability of classical Prandtl’s layers appearing in the inviscid limit of incompressible Navier-Stokes flows.

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Prandtl’s layer expansions for steady Navier-Stokes

ttn12 fluid dynamics, New papers

In 1904, Prandtl conjectured that slightly viscous flows can be decomposed into the inviscid flows away from the boundary and a so-called Prandtl’s layer near the boundary. While various instabilities indicate the failure of the conjecture for unsteady flows (for instance, see Grenier 2000), recently with Y. Guo, we are able to prove that the conjecture holds for certain steady Navier-Stokes flows; see our paper which is to appear on Annals of PDEs.

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Nonlinear instability of Vlasov-Maxwell systems in the classical and quasineutral limits

ttn12 Instabilities, New papers, Plasma Physics

Daniel Han-Kwan and I have just submitted a paper entitled: “Nonlinear instability of Vlasov-Maxwell systems in the classical and quasineutral limits”, which is also available on arxiv: arXiv:1506.08537. In this paper, we study the instability of solutions to the relativistic Vlasov-Maxwell systems in two limiting regimes: the classical limit when the speed of light tends to infinity and the quasineutral limit when the Debye length tends to zero. First, in the classical limit {\varepsilon \rightarrow 0}, with {\varepsilon} being the inverse of the speed of light, we construct a family of solutions that converge initially polynomially fast to a homogeneous solution {\mu} of Vlasov-Poisson in arbitrarily high Sobolev norms, but become of order one away from {\mu} in arbitrary negative Sobolev norms within time of order {|\log \varepsilon|}. Second, we deduce the invalidity of the quasineutral limit in {L^2} in arbitrarily short time.

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The onset of instability in first-order systems

ttn12 Instabilities, New papers

Nicolas Lerner, Ben Texier and I have just submitted to arxiv our long paper on “The onset of instability in first-order systems”, in which we prove the Hadamard’s instability for first-order quasilinear systems that lose its hyperbolicity in positive times. Precisely, we consider the Cauchy problem for the following first-order systems of partial differential equations:

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