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Giovanni Gallavotti

Publications and source records attributed to Giovanni Gallavotti.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Ergodicity, KAM, FPUT

Boltzmann introduced the microcanonical ensemble in 1868, \cite{Bo868-a}, and immediately attempted to give an example of a system whose stationary states would be described by the emsemble (as suggested also by his ergodic hypothesis). The example, \cite{Bo868-b}, has been recently shown to be incorrect, if taken literally: the point was to suppose that constants of motion, if any besides the energy, would necessarily be smooth functions; and soon later he warned on the dangers implicit in a similar assumption. Fifty years later Fermi wrote a paper attempting to prove that in general a nonlinear system should be ergodic, \cite{Fe923}: but his proof relied again on Boltzmann's assumption. Thirty-four more years elapsed, and Fermi returned on the problem collaborating with Pasta, Ulam, Tsingou: the surprise was that the considered non linear chain was apparently not following the ergodic hypothesis. In the same year Kolmogorov had proved the conservation of many quasi periodic motions in nonlinear perturbations of integrable systems, \cite{Ko954}: his theorem was considered, already a few years later, a possible explanation of the FPUT work, \cite{Fo992}. This was only the beginning of intense research: here a brief sketch is presented to illustrate the above themes and the connection with the multiscale aspects of the problems, and the ``Renormalization group method'' intended as a map $\RR$ whose iterations can be interpreted as successive magnifications, zooming on ever smaller regions of phase space in which motions develop closer and closer to the searched quasi periodic motion of given spectrum.

nlin.SI

Nonequilibrium and Irreversibility

The work concentrates on relations, which are general and model independent in chaotic system, between time averages of a few (typically {\it very few}) observables. Equilibrium thermodynamics provides a guide and here is attempted to argue that the viewpoint of Sinai-Ruelle-Bowen can be regarded as a generalization to nonequilibrum phenomena of the theory of the ensembles proposing an answer to classical question like which distributions describe the statistics of stationary states (hence extend the analysis selecting canonical, or equivalent distributions, equilibrim between the uncountably many possibilities). The special name "Chaothic Hypothesis" (CH) is given to the above attempt and its mathematical meaning is discussed. General properties are presented and applied (eg. 'Fluctuation Theorem', 'Fluctuation Patterns', 'Pairing Symmetry') and related to the basic Time Reversal symmetry: which presents irreversibility as due to chaotic motion rather than to viscous forces. The case of a simple incompressible fluid is discussed in some detail. The possibility that CH is violated in various cases is considered: and in the end it is suggested that CH is the paradigm of chaotic evolution, as the harmonic oscillators are a paradigm of ordered motions, but of course {\it tertium datur}. The exposition is informal and often restricted to heuristic analysis, with detailed references to the literature and attention to numerical simulations and importance of stressing strongly the discrete models of Physics, trying to imitate the vision of Boltzmann, is widely considered.

nlin.CD

Viscosity, Reversibillity, Chaotic Hypothesis, Fluctuation Theorem and Lyapunov Pairing

Incompressible fluid equations are studied with UV cut-off and in periodic boundary conditions. Properties of the resulting ODEs holding uniformly in the cut-off are considered and, in particular, are conjectured to be equivalent to properties of other time reversible equations. Reversible equations with the same regularization and describing equivalently the fluid, and the fluctuations of large classes of observables, are examined in the context of the "Chaotic Hypothesis", "Axiom C" and the "Fluctuation Theorem".

cond-mat.stat-mech

Reversibility, Irreversibility, Friction and nonequilibrium ensembles in N-S equations

Viscosity, as a physical property of fluids, reflects an average effect over a chaotic microscopic motion described by Hamiltonian equations. It is proposed, as an example, that stationary states of an incompressible fluid subject to a constant force, can be described via several ensembles, in strict analogy with equilibrium Statistcal Mechanics.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Non-equilibrium Ensembles for the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes Equations

At the molecular level fluid motions are, by first principles, described by time reversible laws. On the other hand, the coarse grained macroscopic evolution is suitably described by the Navier-Stokes equations, which are inherently irreversible, due to the dissipation term. Here, a reversible version of three-dimensional Navier-Stokes is studied, by introducing a fluctuating viscosity constructed in such a way that enstrophy is conserved, along the lines of the paradigm of microcanonical versus canonical treatment in equilibrium statistical mechanics. Through systematic simulations we attack two important questions: (a) What are the conditions that must be satisfied in order to have a statistical equivalence between the two non-equilibrium ensembles? (b) What is the empirical distribution of the fluctuating viscosity observed by changing the Reynolds number and the number of modes used in the discretization of the evolution equation? The latter point is important also to establish regularity conditions for the reversible equations. We find that the probability to observe negative values of the fluctuating viscosity becomes very quickly extremely small when increasing the effective Reynolds number of the flow in the fully resolved hydro dynamical regime, at difference from what was observed previously.

physics.flu-dyn

Finite thermostats in classical and quantum nonequilibrium

Abstract: Models for studying systems in stationary states but out of equilibrium have often empirical nature and very often break the fundamental time reversal symmetry. Here a formal interpretation will be discussed of the widespread idea that, in any event, the particular friction model choice should not matter physically. The proposal is, quite generally, that for the same physical system a time reversible model should be possible. Examples about the Navier-Stokes equations are given.

cond-mat.stat-mech

A Theorem on Ellipses, an Integrable System and a Theorem of Boltzmann

We study a mechanical system that was considered by Boltzmann in 1868 in the context of the derivation of the canonical and microcanonical ensembles. This system was introduced as an example of ergodic dynamics, which was central to Boltzmann's derivation. It consists of a single particle in two dimensions, which is subjected to a gravitational attraction to a fixed center. In addition, an infinite plane is fixed at some finite distance from the center, which acts as a hard wall on which the particle collides elastically. Finally, an extra centrifugal force is added. We will show that, in the absence of this extra centrifugal force, there are two independent integrals of motion. Therefore the extra centrifugal force is necessary for Boltzmann's claim of ergodicity to hold.

math.DS

Quasi periodic Hamiltonian Motions, Scale Invariance, Harmonic Oscillators

The work of Kolmogorov, Arnold and Moser appeared just before the renormalization group approach to statistical mechanics was proposed by Wilson: it can be classified as a multiscale approach which also appeared in works on the convergence of Fourier's series, or construction of Euclidean quantum fields, or the scaling analysis of the short scale behaviour of Navier-Stokes fluids to name a few which originated a great variety of further problems. In this review the proof of the KAM theorem will be presented as a classical renormalization problem with the harmonic oscillator as a `trivial' fixed point.

math.DS

Equivalent Ensembles, Turbulence and Fluctuation Theorem

Stationary states of Navier-Stokes fluids have been proposed to be described equivalently by several alternative equations, besides the NS equation itself. In particular equivalence between the NS evolution and a reversible. It is natural to test whether, assuming the Chaotic Hypothesis, the Fluctuation Theorem can be applied to the reversible flows. Here an example is provided which also leads to the possibility of testing the prediction of the fluctuation theorem even in systems evolving irreversibly.

cond-mat.stat-mech

Navier-Stokes equation: irreversibility turbulence and ensembles equivalence

The NS equation is considered (in 2 & 3 dimensions) with a fixed forcing on large scale; the stationary states form a family of probability distributions on the fluid velocity fields depending on a parameter R (Reynolds number). It is proposed that other equations could lead to -- exactly -- the same distributions via a mechanism closely analogous to the coincidence of the canonical and microcanonical averages of local observables in the statistical mechanics thermodynamic limit (proposed, here, to correspond to the limit in which the UV cut-off N, regularizing the equations, is removed to infinity).

cond-mat.stat-mech

Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics

Aspects of the modern dynamical systems approach to thermodynamics of stationary states out of equilibrium with attention to the original conceptions which arose at the beginnings of Statistical Mechanics

cond-mat.stat-mech

Equivalence of nonequilibrium ensembles in turbulence models

Understanding under what conditions it is possible to construct equivalent ensembles is key to advancing our ability to connect microscopic and macroscopic properties of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. In the case of fluid dynamical systems, one issue is to test whether different models for viscosity lead to the same macroscopic properties of the fluid systems in different regimes. Such models include, besides the standard choice of constant viscosity, cases where the time symmetry of the evolution equations is exactly preserved, as it must be in the corresponding microscopic systems, when available. Here a time-reversible dynamics is obtained by imposing the conservation of global observables. We test the equivalence of reversible and irreversible ensembles for the case of a multiscale shell model of turbulence. We verify that the equivalence is obeyed for the mean values of macroscopic observables, up to an error that vanishes as the system becomes more and more chaotic.

physics.flu-dyn

Reversible viscosity and Navier--Stokes fluids

Exploring the possibility of describing a fluid flow via a time-reversible equation and its relevance for the fluctuations statistics in stationary turbulent (or laminar) incompressible Navier-Stokes flows.

physics.flu-dyn

Ergodicity: a historical perspective. Equilibrium and Nonequilibrium

A view on the physical meaning of the so called ergodic hypothesis: its role on the foundations of equilibrium statistical mechanics in mid '800, its interpretations and hints at its relevance for modern nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. Followed by appendices with detailed comments on the original papers.

cond-mat.stat-mech

About David Ruelle, after his 80th birthday

This is, with minor modifications, a text read at the 114th Statistical Mechanics meeting, in honor of D.Ruelle and Y.Sinai, at Rutgers, Dec.13-15, 2015. It does not attempt to analyze, or not even just quote, all works of David Ruelle; I discuss, as usual in such occasions, a few among his works with which I have most familiarity and which were a source of inspiration for me.

physics.hist-ph