arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Horng-Tzer Yau.
We review our proof that in a scaling limit, the time evolution of a quantum particle in a static random environment leads to a diffusion equation. In particular, we discuss the role of Feynman graph expansions and of renormalization.
We consider random Schrödinger equations on $\bR^d$ for $d\ge 3$ with a homogeneous Anderson-Poisson type random potential. Denote by $λ$ the coupling constant and $ψ_t$ the solution with initial data $ψ_0$. The space and time variables scale as $x\sim λ^{-2 -κ/2}, t \sim λ^{-2 -κ}$ with $0< κ< κ_0(d)$. We prove that, in the limit $λ\to 0$, the expectation of the Wigner distribution of $ψ_t$ converges weakly to the solution of a heat equation in the space variable $x$ for arbitrary $L^2$ initial data. The proof is based on analyzing the phase cancellations of multiple scatterings on the random potential by expanding the propagator into a sum of Feynman graphs. In this paper we consider the non-recollision graphs and prove that the amplitude of the {\it non-ladder} diagrams is smaller than their "naive size" by an extra $λ^c$ factor {\em per non-(anti)ladder vertex} for some $c > 0$. This is the first rigorous result showing that the improvement over the naive estimates on the Feynman graphs grows as a power of the small parameter with the exponent depending linearly on the number of vertices. This estimate allows us to prove the convergence of the perturbation series.
We consider random Schrödinger equations on $\bZ^d$ for $d\ge 3$ with identically distributed random potential. Denote by $λ$ the coupling constant and $ψ_t$ the solution with initial data $ψ_0$. The space and time variables scale as $x\sim λ^{-2 -κ/2}, t \sim λ^{-2 -κ}$ with $0< κ< κ_0(d)$. We prove that, in the limit $λ\to 0$, the expectation of the Wigner distribution of $ψ_t$ converges weakly to a solution of a heat equation in the space variable $x$ for arbitrary $L^2$ initial data. The diffusion coefficient is uniquely determined by the kinetic energy associated to the momentum $v$. This work is an extension to the lattice case of our previous result in the continuum \cite{ESYI}, \cite{ESYII}. Due to the non-convexity of the level surfaces of the dispersion relation, the estimates of several Feynman graphs are more involved.
We prove rigorously that the one-particle density matrix of three dimensional interacting Bose systems with a short-scale repulsive pair interaction converges to the solution of the cubic non-linear Schrödinger equation in a suitable scaling limit. The result is extended to $k$-particle density matrices for all positive integer $k$.
Consider axisymmetric strong solutions of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in $\R^3$ with non-trivial swirl. Such solutions are not known to be globally defined, but it is shown in \cite{MR673830} that they could only blow up on the axis of symmetry. Let $z$ denote the axis of symmetry and $r$ measure the distance to the z-axis. Suppose the solution satisfies the pointwise scale invariant bound $|v (x,t)| \le C_*{(r^2 -t)^{-1/2}} $ for $-T_0\le t < 0$ and $0<C_*<\infty$ allowed to be large, we then prove that $v$ is regular at time zero.
Consider a system of $N$ bosons in three dimensions interacting via a repulsive short range pair potential $N^2V(N(x_i-x_j))$, where $\bx=(x_1, >..., x_N)$ denotes the positions of the particles. Let $H_N$ denote the Hamiltonian of the system and let $ψ_{N,t}$ be the solution to the Schrödinger equation. Suppose that the initial data $ψ_{N,0}$ satisfies the energy condition \[ < ψ_{N,0}, H_N^k ψ_{N,0} > \leq C^k N^k \] for $k=1,2,... $. We also assume that the $k$-particle density matrices of the initial state are asymptotically factorized as $N\to\infty$. We prove that the $k$-particle density matrices of $ψ_{N,t}$ are also asymptotically factorized and the one particle orbital wave function solves the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, a cubic non-linear Schrödinger equation with the coupling constant given by the scattering length of the potential $V$. We also prove the same conclusion if the energy condition holds only for $k=1$ but the factorization of $ψ_{N,0}$ is assumed in a stronger sense.
The time dependent Gross-Pitaevskii equation describes the dynamics of initially trapped Bose-Einstein condensates. We present a rigorous proof of this fact starting from a many-body bosonic Schroedinger equation with a short scale repulsive interaction in the dilute limit. Our proof shows the persistence of an explicit short scale correlation structure in the condensate.
We consider random Schrödinger equations on $\bR^d$ for $d\ge 3$ with a homogeneous Anderson-Poisson type random potential. Denote by $λ$ the coupling constant and $ψ_t$ the solution with initial data $ψ_0$. The space and time variables scale as $x\sim λ^{-2 -κ/2}, t \sim λ^{-2 -κ}$ with $0< κ< κ_0(d)$. We prove that, in the limit $λ\to 0$, the expectation of the Wigner distribution of $ψ_t$ converges weakly to the solution of a heat equation in the space variable $x$ for arbitrary $L^2$ initial data. The proof is based on a rigorous analysis of Feynman diagrams. In the companion paper the analysis of the non-repetition diagrams was presented. In this paper we complete the proof by estimating the recollision diagrams and showing that the main terms, i.e. the ladder diagrams with renormalized propagator, converge to the heat equation.
We consider random Schrödinger equations on $\bR^d$ or $\bZ^d$ for $d\ge 3$ with uncorrelated, identically distributed random potential. Denote by $λ$ the coupling constant and $ψ_t$ the solution with initial data $ψ_0$. Suppose that the space and time variables scale as $x\sim λ^{-2 -κ/2}, t \sim λ^{-2 -κ}$ with $0< κ\leq κ_0$, where $κ_0$ is a sufficiently small universal constant. We prove that the expectation value of the Wigner distribution of $ψ_t$, $\bE W_{ψ_{t}} (x, v)$, converges weakly to a solution of a heat equation in the space variable $x$ for arbitrary $L^2$ initial data in the weak coupling limit $λ\to 0$. The diffusion coefficient is uniquely determined by the kinetic energy associated to the momentum $v$.
Consider a system of $N$ bosons on the three dimensional unit torus interacting via a pair potential $N^2V(N(x_i-x_j))$, where $\bx=(x_1, ..., x_N)$ denotes the positions of the particles. Suppose that the initial data $ψ_{N,0}$ satisfies the condition \[ < ψ_{N,0}, H_N^2 ψ_{N,0} > \leq C N^2 \] where $H_N$ is the Hamiltonian of the Bose system. This condition is satisfied if $ψ_{N,0}= W_N ϕ_{N,0}$ where $W_N$ is an approximate ground state to $H_N$ and $ϕ_{N,0}$ is regular. Let $ψ_{N,t}$ denote the solution to the Schrödinger equation with Hamiltonian $H_N$. Gross and Pitaevskii proposed to model the dynamics of such system by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation, the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation. The GP hierarchy is an infinite BBGKY hierarchy of equations so that if $u_t$ solves the GP equation, then the family of $k$-particle density matrices $\{\otimes_k u_t, k\ge 1 \}$ solves the GP hierarchy. We prove that as $N\to \infty$ the limit points of the $k$-particle density matrices of $ψ_{N,t}$ are solutions of the GP hierarchy. The uniqueness of the solutions to this hierarchy remains an open question. Our analysis requires that the $N$ boson dynamics is described by a modified Hamiltonian which cuts off the pair interactions whenever at least three particles come into a region with diameter much smaller than the typical inter-particle distance. Our proof can be extended to a modified Hamiltonian which only forbids at least $n$ particles from coming close together, for any fixed $n$.
We consider the dynamics of $N$ boson systems interacting through a pair potential $N^{-1} V_a(x_i-x_j)$ where $V_a (x) = a^{-3} V (x/a)$. We denote the solution to the $N$-particle Schrödinger equation by $ψ_{N, t}$. Recall that the Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation is a nonlinear Schrödinger equation and the GP hierarchy is an infinite BBGKY hierarchy of equations so that if $u_t$ solves the GP equation, then the family of $k$-particle density matrices $\{\otimes_k u_t, k\ge 1 \}$ solves the GP hierarchy. Under the assumption that $a = N^{-\eps}$ for $0 < \eps < 3/5$, we prove that as $N\to \infty$ the limit points of the $k$-particle density matrices of $ψ_{N,t}$ are solutions of the GP hierarchy with the coupling constant in the nonlinear term of the GP equation given by $\int V(x) dx$. The uniqueness of the solutions to this hierarchy remains an open question.
We consider a nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a bounded local potential in $R^3$. The linear Hamiltonian is assumed to have two bound states with the eigenvalues satisfying some resonance condition. Suppose that the initial data are localized and small in $H^1$. We prove that exactly three local-in-space behaviors can occur as the time tends to infinity: 1. The solutions vanish; 2. The solutions converge to nonlinear ground states; 3. The solutions converge to nonlinear excited states. We also obtain upper bounds for the relaxation in all three cases. In addition, a matching lower bound for the relaxation to nonlinear ground states was given for a large set of initial data which is believed to be generic. Our proof is based on outgoing estimates of the dispersive waves which measure the relevant time-direction dependent information of the dispersive wave. These estimates, introduced in [16], provides the first general notion to measure the out-going tendency of waves in the setting of nonlinear Schrödinger equations.
We consider a system of N weakly interacting fermions with a real analytic pair interaction. We prove that for a general class of initial data there exists a fixed time T such that the difference between the one particle density matrix of this system and the solution of the non-linear Hartree equation is of order 1/N for any time t less or equal T.
We derive the Euler equations from quantum dynamics for a class of fermionic many-body systems. We make two types of assumptions. The first type are physical assumptions on the solution of the Euler equations for the given initial data. The second type are a number of reasonable conjectures on the statistical mechanics and dynamics of the Fermion Hamiltonian.
The Heisenberg dynamics of the energy, momentum, and particle densities for fermions with short-range pair interactions is shown to converge to the compressible Euler equations in the hydrodynamic limit. The pressure function is given by the standard formula from quantum statistical mechanics with the two-body potential under consideration. Our derivation is based on a quantum version of the entropy method and a suitable quantum virial theorem. No intermediate description, such as a Boltzmann equation or semi-classical approximation, is used in our proof. We require some technical conditions on the dynamics, which can be considered as interesting open problems in their own right.
We give a nonrigorous derivation of the nonlinear Boltzmann equation from the Schrodinger evolution of interacting fermions. The argument is based mainly on the assumption that a quasifree initial state satisfies a property called restricted quasifreeness in the weak coupling limit at any later time. By definition, a state is called restricted quasifree if the four-point and the eight-point functions of the state factorize in the same manner as in a quasifree state.
We consider the time evolution of N bosonic particles interacting via a mean field Coulomb potential. Suppose the initial state is a product wavefunction. We show that at any finite time the correlation functions factorize in the limit $N \to \infty$. Furthermore, the limiting one particle density matrix satisfies the nonlinear Hartree equation. The key ingredients are the uniqueness of the BBGKY hierarchy for the correlation functions and a new apriori estimate for the many-body Schrödinger equations.
We prove that the diffusion coefficient for the two dimensional asymmetric simple exclusion process diverges as $(\log t)^{2/3}$ to the leading order. The method applies to nearest and non-nearest neighbor asymmetric simple exclusion processes.