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The Kompaneets equation governs dynamics of the photon energy spectrum in certain high temperature (or low density) plasmas. We prove several results concerning the long-time convergence of solutions to Bose--Einstein equilibria and the failure of photon conservation. In particular, we show the total photon number can decrease with time via an outflux of photons at the zero-energy boundary. The ensuing accumulation of photons at zero energy is analogous to Bose--Einstein condensation. We provide two conditions that guarantee that photon loss occurs, and show that once loss is initiated then it persists forever. We prove that as $t\to \infty$, solutions necessarily converge to equilibrium and we characterize the limit in terms of the total photon loss. Additionally, we provide a few results concerning the behavior of the solution near the zero-energy boundary, an Oleinik inequality, a comparison principle, and show that the solution operator is a contraction in $L^1$. None of these results impose a boundary condition at the zero-energy boundary., Comment: 36 pages, 3 figures

The Kompaneets equation describes a field of photons exchanging energy by Compton scattering with the free electrons of a homogeneous, isotropic, non-relativistic, thermal plasma. This paper strives to advance our understanding of how this equation captures the phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation through the study of a model equation. For this model we prove existence and uniqueness theorems for global weak solutions. In some cases a Bose-Einstein condensate will form in finite time, and we show that it will continue to gain photons forever afterwards. Moreover we show that every solution approaches a stationary solution for large time. Key tools include a universal super solution, a one-sided Oleinik type inequality, and an $L^1$ contraction., Comment: 40 pages

We study the dynamics defined by the Boltzmann equation set in the Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^D$ in the vicinity of global Maxwellians with finite mass. A global Maxwellian is a special solution of the Boltzmann equation for which the collision integral vanishes identically. In this setting, the dispersion due to the advection operator quenches the dissipative effect of the Boltzmann collision integral. As a result, the large time limit of solutions of the Boltzmann equation in this regime is given by noninteracting, freely transported states and can be described with the tools of scattering theory., Comment: 30 pages

In this paper, we investigate moment methods from a general point of view using an operator notation. This theoretical approach lets us explore the moment closure problem in more detail. This gives rise to a new idea, proposed in [Levermore2005, Levermore2009], of how to improve the well-known Pn approximations. We systematically develop a diffusive correction to the Pn equations from the operator formulation - the so-called Dn approximation. We validate the new approach with numerical examples in one and two dimensions., Comment: 22 pages, 4 figures

Hyperbolic-parabolic systems have spatially homogenous stationary states. When the dissipation is weak, one can derive weakly nonlinear-dissipative approximations that govern perturbations of these constant states. These approximations are quadratically nonlinear. When the original system has an entropy, the approximation is formally dissipative in a natural Hilbert space. We show that when the approximation is strictly dissipative it has global weak solutions for all initial data in that Hilbert space. We also prove a weak-strong uniqueness theorem for it. In addition, we give a Kawashima type criterion for this approximation to be strictly dissipative. We apply the theory to the compressible Navier-Stokes system., Comment: 29 pages, submitted

We use some new nonlinear estimates found in \cite {LM} to improve the results of \cite{GL} that establish the acoustic limit for DiPerna-Lions solutions of Boltzmann equation in three ways. First, we enlarge the class of collision kernels treated to that found in \cite{LM}, thereby treating all classical collision kernels to which the DiPerna-Lions theory applies. Second, we improve the scaling of the kinetic density fluctuations with Knudsen number from $O(\epsilon^m)$ for some $m>\frac12$ to $O(\epsilon^\frac12)$. Third, we extend the results from periodic domains to bounded domains with impermeable boundaries, deriving the boundary condition for the acoustic system., Comment: 17 pages

We present a numerical and theoretical study of the zero-dispersion limit of the focusing Zakharov-Shabat hierarchy, which includes NLS and mKdV flows as its second and third members. All the odd flows in the hierachy are shown to preserve real-valued data. We establish the zero-dispersion limit of all the nontrivial conserved densities and associated fluxes for these odd flows for a large class of real-valued initial data which includes all ``single hump'' initial data. In particular, it is done for the ``focusing'' mKdV flow. The method is based on the Lax-Levermore KdV strategy, but here it is carried out in the context of a nonselfadjoint spectral problem. We find that after an algebraic transformation the limiting dynamics of the mKdV equation is identical to that of the KdV equation.

We study the problem of a random walk on a lattice in which bonds connecting nearest neighbor sites open and close randomly in time, a situation often encountered in fluctuating media. We present a simple renormalization group technique to solve for the effective diffusive behavior at long times. For one-dimensional lattices we obtain better quantitative agreement with simulation data than earlier effective medium results. Our technique works in principle in any dimension, although the amount of computation required rises with dimensionality of the lattice., Comment: PostScript file including 2 figures, total 15 pages, 8 other figures obtainable by mail from D.L. Stein

Lattice Boltzmann methods are numerical schemes derived as a kinetic approximation of an underlying lattice gas. A numerical convergence theory for nonlinear convective-diffusive lattice Boltzmann methods is established. Convergence, consistency, and stability are defined through truncated Hilbert expansions. In this setting it is shown that consistency and stability imply convergence. Monotone lattice Boltzmann methods are defined and shown to be stable, hence convergent when consistent. Examples of diffusive and convective-diffusive lattice Boltzmann methods that are both consistent and monotone are presented., Comment: 39 pages; LaTeX and PsFig; 400kb uuencoded/compressed/tarred PostScript figures; submitted to the SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis. AMS(MOS) subject classifications 35F25, 65M06, 65M12, 76R99, 82C40