arXiv subjects

Alain Blaustein

Publications and source records attributed to Alain Blaustein.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Discrete hypocoercive estimates for discontinuous Galerkin methods: application to the Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck system

We develop and analyze a class of structure-preserving discontinuous Galerkin schemes for the nonlinear Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck model, reformulated as a hyperbolic system through a Hermite expansion in the velocity variable. We discretize the Vlasov-Fokker-Planck equation with the discontinuous Galerkin method, while the Poisson equation is approximated with either a discontinuous Galerkin method or a Raviart-Thomas mixed finite element method. We prove the exponential relaxation to equilibrium for suitable initial data, uniformly with respect to the discretization parameters thanks to discrete hypocoercivity arguments. Moreover, we check that the resulting semi-discrete schemes preserve the physical invariants along with the L 2 variational structure of the linearized model. Numerical simulations verify the accuracy and the long-time behavior of the scheme.

math.NA↗

arXiv2025

Existence of solutions and uniform bounds for the stationary semiconductor equations with generation and ionic carriers

We consider a stationary drift-diffusion system with ionic charge carriers and external generation of electron and hole charge carriers. This system arises, among other applications, in the context of semiconductor modeling for perovskite solar cells. Thanks to truncation techniques and iterative energy estimates, we show the existence and uniform upper and lower bounds on the solutions. The dependency of the bounds on the various parameters of the model is investigated numerically on physically relevant test cases.

math.AP↗

arXiv2025

A structure and asymptotic preserving scheme for the quasineutral limit of the Vlasov-Poisson system

In this work, we propose a new numerical method for the Vlasov-Poisson system that is both asymptotically consistent and stable in the quasineutral regime, i.e. when the Debye length is small compared to the characteristic spatial scale of the physical domain. Our approach consists in reformulating the Vlasov-Poisson system as a hyperbolic problem by applying a spectral expansion in the basis of Hermite functions in the velocity space and in designing a structure-preserving scheme for the time and spatial variables. Through this Hermite formulation, we establish a convergence result for the electric field toward its quasineutral limit together with optimal error estimates. Following this path, we then propose a fully discrete numerical method for the Vlasov-Poisson system, inspired by the approach in arXiv:2306.14605 , and rigorously prove that it is uniformly consistent in the quasineutral limit regime. Finally, we present several numerical simulations to illustrate the behavior of the proposed scheme. These results demonstrate the capability of our method to describe quasineutral plasmas and confirm the theoretical findings: stability and asymptotic preservation.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

Longtime and chaotic dynamics in microscopic systems with singular interactions

This paper investigates the long time dynamics of interacting particle systems subject to singular interactions. We consider a microscopic system of $N$ interacting point particles, where the time evolution of the joint distribution $f_N(t)$ is governed by the Liouville equation. Our primary objective is to analyze the system's behavior over extended time intervals, focusing on stability, potential chaotic dynamics and the impact of singularities. In particular, we aim to derive reduced models in the regime where $N \gg 1$, exploring both the mean-field approximation and configurations far from chaos, where the mean-field approximation no longer holds. These reduced models do not always emerge but in these cases it is possible to derive uniform bounds in $ L^2 $, both over time and with respect to the number of particles, on the marginals $ \left(f_{k,N}\right)_{1\leq k \leq N}$, irrespective of the initial state's chaotic nature. Furthermore, we extend previous results by considering a wide range of singular interaction kernels surpassing the traditional $L^d$ regularity barriers, $K \in W^{\frac{-2}{d+2},d+2}(\mathbb{T}^d)$, where $\mathbb{T}$ denotes the $1$-torus and $d\geq2$ is the dimension. Finally, we address the highly singular case of $K \in H^{-1}(\mathbb{T}^d)$ within high-temperature regimes, offering new insights into the behavior of such systems.

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arXiv2023

Derivation of the bacterial run-and-tumble kinetic model : quantitative and strong convergence results

During the past century, biologists and mathematicians investigated two mechanisms underlying bacteria motion: the run phase during which bacteria move in straight lines and the tumble phase in which they change their orientation. When surrounded by a chemical attractant, experiments show that bacteria increase their run time as moving up concentration gradients, leading to a biased random walk towards favorable regions. This observation raises the following question, which has drawn intense interest from both biological and mathematical communities: what cellular mechanisms enable bacteria to feel concentration gradients\,? In this article, we investigate an asymptotic regime that was proposed to explain this ability thanks to internal mechanisms. More precisely, we derive the run-and-tumble kinetic equation with concentration's gradient dependent tumbling rate from a more comprehensive model, which incorporates internal cellular mechanisms. Our result improves on previous investigations, as we obtain strong convergence towards the gradient dependent kinetic model with quantitative and formally optimal convergence rates. The main ingredient consists in identifying a set of coordinates for the internal cellular dynamics in which concentration gradients arise explicitly. Then, we use relative entropy methods in order to capture quantitative measurement of the distance between the model incorporating cellular mechanisms and the one with concentration gradient dependent tumbling rate.

math.AP↗

arXiv2023

A structure and asymptotic preserving scheme for the Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck model

We propose a numerical method for the Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck model written as an hyperbolic system thanks to a spectral decomposition in the basis of Hermite functions with respect to the velocity variable and a structure preserving finite volume scheme for the space variable. On the one hand, we show that this scheme naturally preserves both stationary solutions and linearized free-energy estimate. On the other hand, we adapt previous arguments based on hypocoercivity methods to get quantitative estimates ensuring the exponential relaxation to equilibrium of the discrete solution for the linearized Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck system, uniformly with respect to both scaling and discretization parameters. Finally, we perform substantial numerical simulations for the nonlinear system to illustrate the efficiency of this approach for a large variety of collisional regimes (plasma echos for weakly collisional regimes and trend to equilibrium for collisional plasmas) and to highlight its robustness (unconditional stability, asymptotic preserving properties).

math.NA↗

arXiv2023

Large coupling in a FitzHugh-Nagumo neural network: quantitative and strong convergence results

We consider a mesoscopic model for a spatially extended FitzHugh-Nagumo neural network and prove that in the regime where short-range interactions dominate, the probability density of the potential throughout the network concentrates into a Dirac distribution whose center of mass solves the classical non-local reaction-diffusion FitzHugh-Nagumo system. In order to refine our comprehension of this regime, we focus on the blow-up profile of this concentration phenomenon. Our main purpose here consists in deriving two quantitative and strong convergence estimates proving that the profile is Gaussian: the first one in a L1 functional framework and the second in a weighted L2 functional setting. We develop original relative entropy techniques to prove the first result whereas our second result relies on propagation of regularity.

math.AP↗

arXiv2023

Diffusive limit of the Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck model: quantitative and strong convergence results

This work tackles the diffusive limit for the Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck model. We derive a priori estimates which hold without restriction on the phase-space dimension and propose a strong convergence result in a L2 space. Furthermore, we strengthen previous results by obtaining an explicit convergence rate arbitrarily close to the (formal) optimal rate, provided that the initial data lies in some Lp space with p large enough. Our result holds on bounded time intervals whose size grow to infinity in the asymptotic limit with explicit lower bound. The analysis relies on identifying the right set of phase-space coordinates to study the regime of interest. In this set of coordinates the limiting model arises explicitly.

math.AP↗

arXiv2022

On a discrete framework of hypocoercivity for kinetic equations

We propose and study a fully discrete finite volume scheme for the Vlasov-Fokker-Planck equation written as an hyperbolic system using Hermite polynomials in velocity. This approach naturally preserves the stationary solution and the weighted L 2 relative entropy. Then, we adapt the arguments developed in [12] based the hypocoercivity method to get quantitative estimates on the convergence to equilibrium of the discrete solution. Finally, we prove that in the diffusive limit, the scheme is asymptotic preserving with respect to both the time variable and the scaling parameter at play.

math.AP↗

arXiv2022

Concentration phenomena in Fitzhugh-Nagumo's equations: A mesoscopic approach

We consider a spatially extended mesoscopic FitzHugh-Nagumo model with strong local interactions and prove that its asymptotic limit converges towards the classical nonlocal reaction-diffusion FitzHugh-Nagumo system. As the local interactions strongly dominate, the weak solution to the mesoscopic equation under consideration converges to the local equilibrium, which has the form of Dirac distribution concentrated to an averaged membrane potential. Our approach is based on techniques widely developed in kinetic theory (Wasserstein distance, relative entropy method), where macroscopic quantities of the mesoscopic model are compared with the solution to the nonlocal reaction-diffusion system. This approach allows to make the rigorous link between microscopic and reaction-diffusion models.

math.AP↗

arXiv2022

Concentration profiles in FitzHugh-Nagumo neural networks: A Hopf-Cole approach

In this paper we focus on a spatially extended FitzHugh-Nagumo model with interactions. In the regime where strong and local interactions dominate, we quantify how the probability density of neurons concentrates into a Dirac distribution. Previous work investigating this question have provided relative bounds in integrability spaces. Using a Hopf-Cole framework, we derive precise $L^\infty$ estimates using subtle explicit sub- and super- solutions which prove, with rates of convergence, that the blow up profile is Gaussian.

math.AP↗