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J. L. Lebowitz

Publications and source records attributed to J. L. Lebowitz.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2003

The Boltzmann Entropy for Dense Fluids Not in Local Equilibrium

We investigate, via computer simulations, the time evolution of the (Boltzmann) entropy of a dense fluid not in local equilibrium. The macrovariables $M$ describing the system are the (empirical) particle density $f=\{f(\un{x},\un{v})\}$ and the total energy $E$. We find that $S(f_t,E)$ is monotone increasing in time even when its kinetic part is decreasing. We argue that for isolated Hamiltonian systems monotonicity of $S(M_t) = S(M_{X_t})$ should hold generally for ``typical'' (the overwhelming majority of) initial microstates (phase-points) $X_0$ belonging to the initial macrostate $M_0$, satisfying $M_{X_0} = M_0$. This is a direct consequence of Liouville's theorem when $M_t$ evolves autonomously.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2003

A Matrix Model of Relaxation

We consider a two level system, $\mathcal{S}_{2}$, coupled to a general $n$ level system, $\mathcal{S}_{n}$, via a random matrix. We derive an integral representation for the mean reduced density matrix $ρ (t)$ of $\mathcal{S}_{2}$ in the limit $n\to \infty $, and we identify a model of $\mathcal{S}_{n}$ which possesses some of the properties expected for macroscopic thermal reservoirs. In particular, it yields the Gibbs form for $ρ (\infty)$. We consider also an analog of the van Hove limit and obtain a master equation (Markov dynamics) for the evolution of $ρ(t)$ on an appropriate time scale.

math-ph↗
arXiv2003

The asymmetric Exclusion Process and Brownian Excursions

We consider the totally asymmetric exclusion process (TASEP) in one dimension in its maximal current phase. We show, by an exact calculation, that the non-Gaussian part of the fluctuations of density can be described in terms of the statistical properties of a Brownian excursion. Numerical simulations indicate that the description in terms of a Brownian excursion remains valid for more general one dimensional driven systems in their maximal current phase.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2003

Stability of Solutions of Hydrodynamic Equations Describing the Scaling Limit of a Massive Piston in an Ideal gas

We analyze the stability of stationary solutions of a singular Vlasov type hydrodynamic equation (HE). This equation was derived (under suitable assumptions) as the hydrodynamical scaling limit of the Hamiltonian evolution of a system consisting of a massive piston immersed in an ideal gas of point particles in a box. We find explicit criteria for global stability as well as a class of solutions which are linearly unstable for a dense set of parameter values. We present evidence (but no proof) that when the mechanical system has initial conditions ``close'' to stationary stable solutions of the HE then it stays close to these solutions for a time which is long compared to that for which the equations have been derived. On the other hand if the initial state of the particle system is close to an unstable stationary solutions of the HE the mechanical motion follows for an extended time a perturbed solution of that equation: we find such approximate periodic solutions that are linearly stable.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2003

Dynamics of a Massive Piston in an Ideal Gas

We study a dynamical system consisting of a massive piston in a cubical container of large size $L$ filled with an ideal gas. The piston has mass $M\sim L^2$ and undergoes elastic collisions with $N\sim L^3$ non-interacting gas particles of mass $m=1$. We find that, under suitable initial conditions, there is, in the limit $L \to \infty$, a scaling regime with time and space scaled by $L$, in which the motion of the piston and the one particle distribution of the gas satisfy autonomous coupled equations (hydrodynamical equations), so that the mechanical trajectory of the piston converges, in probability, to the solution of the hydrodynamical equations for a certain period of time. We also discuss heuristically the dynamics of the system on longer intervals of time.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2002

Scaling Dynamics of a Massive Piston in a Cube Filled With Ideal Gas: Exact Results

We continue the study of the time evolution of a system consisting of a piston in a cubical container of large size $L$ filled with an ideal gas. The piston has mass $M\sim L^2$ and undergoes elastic collisions with $N\sim L^3$ gas particles of mass $m$. In a previous paper, Lebowitz, Piasecki and Sinai considered a scaling regime, with time and space scaled by $L$, in which they argued heuristically that the motion of the piston and the one particle distribution of the gas satisfy autonomous coupled differential equations. Here we state exact results and sketch proofs for this behavior.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2002

Dynamics of a Massive Piston in an Ideal Gas: Oscillatory Motion and Approach to Equilibrium

We study numerically and theoretically (on a heuristic level) the time evolution of a gas confined to a cube of size $L^3$ divided into two parts by a piston with mass $M_L \sim L^2$ which can only move in the $x$-direction. Starting with a uniform ``double-peaked'' (non Maxwellian) distribution of the gas and a stationary piston, we find that (a) after an initial quiescent period the system becomes unstable and the piston performs a damped oscillatory motion, and (b) there is a thermalization of the system leading to a Maxwellian distribution of the gas velocities. The time of the onset of the instability appears to grow like $L \log L$ while the relaxation time to the Maxwellian grows like $L^{7/2}$.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2002

Generation of Primordial Cosmological Perturbations from Statistical Mechanical Models

The initial conditions describing seed fluctuations for the formation of structure in standard cosmological models, i.e.the Harrison-Zeldovich distribution, have very characteristic ``super-homogeneous'' properties: they are statistically translation invariant, isotropic, and the variance of the mass fluctuations in a region of volume V grows slower than V. We discuss the geometrical construction of distributions of points in ${\bf R}^3$ with similar properties encountered in tiling and in statistical physics, e.g. the Gibbs distribution of a one-component system of charged particles in a uniform background (OCP). Modifications of the OCP can produce equilibrium correlations of the kind assumed in the cosmological context. We then describe how such systems can be used for the generation of initial conditions in gravitational $N$-body simulations.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2002

Exact Large Deviation Functional of a Stationary Open Driven Diffusive System: The Asymmetric Exclusion Process

We consider the asymmetric exclusion process (ASEP) in one dimension on sites $i = 1,..., N$, in contact at sites $i=1$ and $i=N$ with infinite particle reservoirs at densities $ρ_a$ and $ρ_b$. As $ρ_a$ and $ρ_b$ are varied, the typical macroscopic steady state density profile $\bar ρ(x)$, $x\in[a,b]$, obtained in the limit $N=L(b-a)\to\infty$, exhibits shocks and phase transitions. Here we derive an exact asymptotic expression for the probability of observing an arbitrary macroscopic profile $ρ(x)$: $P_N(\{ρ(x)\})\sim\exp[-L{\cal F}_{[a,b]}(\{ρ(x)\});ρ_a,ρ_b]$, so that ${\cal F}$ is the large deviation functional, a quantity similar to the free energy of equilibrium systems. We find, as in the symmetric, purely diffusive case $q=1$ (treated in an earlier work), that $\cal F$ is in general a non-local functional of $ρ(x)$. Unlike the symmetric case, however, the asymmetric case exhibits ranges of the parameters for which ${\cal F}(\{ρ(x)\})$ is not convex and others for which ${\cal F}(\{ρ(x)\})$ has discontinuities in its second derivatives at $ρ(x) = \barρ(x)$; the fluctuations near $\barρ(x)$ are then non-Gaussian and cannot be calculated from the large deviation function.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2002

Exact Free Energy Functional for a Driven Diffusive Open Stationary Nonequilibrium System

We obtain the exact probability $\exp[-L {\cal F}(\{ρ(x)\})]$ of finding a macroscopic density profile $ρ(x)$ in the stationary nonequilibrium state of an open driven diffusive system, when the size of the system $L \to \infty$. $\cal F$, which plays the role of a nonequilibrium free energy, has a very different structure from that found in the purely diffusive case. As there, $\cal F$ is nonlocal, but the shocks and dynamic phase transitions of the driven system are reflected in non-convexity of $\cal F$, in discontinuities in its second derivatives, and in non-Gaussian fluctuations in the steady state.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2002

Properties of Stationary Nonequilibrium States in the Thermostatted Periodic Lorentz Gas II: The many point particles system

We study the stationary nonequilibrium states of N point particles moving under the influence of an electric field E among fixed obstacles (discs) in a two dimensional torus. The total kinetic energy of the system is kept constant through a Gaussian thermostat which produces a velocity dependent mean field interaction between the particles. The current and the particle distribution functions are obtained numerically and compared for small E with analytic solutions of a Boltzmann type equation obtained by treating the collisions with the obstacles as random independent scatterings. The agreement is surprisingly good for both small and large N. The latter system in turn agrees with a self consistent one particle evolution expected to hold in the limit of N going to infinity.

nlin.CD↗
arXiv2002

Large Deviation of the Density Profile in the Steady State of the Open Symmetric Simple Exclusion Process

We consider an open one dimensional lattice gas on sites $i=1,...,N$, with particles jumping independently with rate 1 to neighboring interior empty sites, the {\it simple symmetric exclusion process}. The particle fluxes at the left and right boundaries, corresponding to exchanges with reservoirs at different chemical potentials, create a stationary nonequilibrium state (SNS) with a steady flux of particles through the system. The mean density profile in this state, which is linear, describes the typical behavior of a macroscopic system, i.e., this profile occurs with probability 1 when $N \to \infty$. The probability of microscopic configurations corresponding to some other profile $ρ(x)$, $x = i/N$, has the asymptotic form $\exp[-N {\cal F}(\{ρ\})]$; $\cal F$ is the {\it large deviation functional}. In contrast to equilibrium systems, for which ${\cal F}_{eq}(\{ρ\})$ is just the integral of the appropriately normalized local free energy density, the $\cal F$ we find here for the nonequilibrium system is a nonlocal function of $ρ$. This gives rise to the long range correlations in the SNS predicted by fluctuating hydrodynamics and suggests similar non-local behavior of $\cal F$ in general SNS, where the long range correlations have been observed experimentally.

cond-mat↗
arXiv2001

Free Energy Functional for Nonequilibrium Systems: An Exactly Solvable Case

We consider the steady state of an open system in which there is a flux of matter between two reservoirs at different chemical potentials. For a large system of size $N$, the probability of any macroscopic density profile $ρ(x)$ is $\exp[-N{\cal F}(\{ρ\})]$; ${\cal F}$ thus generalizes to nonequilibrium systems the notion of free energy density for equilibrium systems. Our exact expression for $\cal F$ is a nonlocal functional of $ρ$, which yields the macroscopically long range correlations in the nonequilibrium steady state previously predicted by fluctuating hydrodynamics and observed experimentally.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2001

Large deviations in rarefied quantum gases

The probability of observing a large deviation (LD) in the number of particles in a region $Λ$ in a dilute quantum gas contained in a much larger region $V$ is shown to decay as $\exp[-|Λ|ΔF]$, where $|Ł|$ is the volume of $Λ$ and $ΔF$ is the change in the appropriate free energy density, the same as in classical systems. However, in contrast with the classical case, where this formula holds at all temperatures and chemical potentials our proof is restricted to rarefied gases, both for the typical and observed density, at least for Bose or Fermi systems. The case of Boltzmann statistics with a bounded repulsive potential can be treated at all temperatures and densities. Fermions on a lattice in any dimension, or in the continuum in one dimension, can be treated at all densities and temperatures if the interaction is small enough (depending on density and temperature), provided one assumes periodic boundary conditions.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗
arXiv2001

Binary Fluids with Long Range Segregating Interaction I: Derivation of Kinetic and Hydrodynamic Equations

We study the evolution of a two component fluid consisting of ``blue'' and ``red'' particles which interact via strong short range (hard core) and weak long range pair potentials. At low temperatures the equilibrium state of the system is one in which there are two coexisting phases. Under suitable choices of space-time scalings and system parameters we first obtain (formally) a mesoscopic kinetic Vlasov-Boltzmann equation for the one particle position and velocity distribution functions, appropriate for a description of the phase segregation kinetics in this system. Further scalings then yield Vlasov-Euler and incompressible Vlasov-Navier-Stokes equations. We also obtain, via the usual truncation of the Chapman-Enskog expansion, compressible Vlasov-Navier-Stokes equations.

math-ph↗
arXiv2000

Bounded Fluctuations and Translation Symmetry Breaking in One-Dimensional Particle Systems

We present general results for one-dimensional systems of point charges (signed point measures) on the line with a translation invariant distribution $μ$ for which the variance of the total charge in an interval is uniformly bounded (instead of increasing with the interval length). When the charges are restricted to multiples of a common unit, and their average charge density does not vanish, then the boundedness of the variance implies translation-symmetry breaking --- in the sense that there exists a function of the charge configuration that is nontrivially periodic under translations --- and hence that $μ$ is not ``mixing.'' Analogous results are formulated also for one dimensional lattice systems under some constraints on the values of the charges at the lattice sites and their averages. The general results apply to one-dimensional Coulomb systems, and to certain spin chains, putting on common grounds different instances of symmetry breaking encountered there.

math-ph↗
arXiv2000

Diffusion Effects on the Breakdown of a Linear Amplifier Model Driven by the Square of a Gaussian Field

We investigate solutions to the equation $\partial_t{\cal E} - {\cal D}Δ{\cal E} = λS^2{\cal E}$, where $S(x,t)$ is a Gaussian stochastic field with covariance $C(x-x',t,t')$, and $x\in {\mathbb R}^d$. It is shown that the coupling $λ_{cN}(t)$ at which the $N$-th moment $<{\cal E}^N(x,t)>$ diverges at time $t$, is always less or equal for ${\cal D}>0$ than for ${\cal D}=0$. Equality holds under some reasonable assumptions on $C$ and, in this case, $λ_{cN}(t)=Nλ_c(t)$ where $λ_c(t)$ is the value of $λ$ at which $<\exp\lbrack λ\int_0^tS^2(0,s)ds\rbrack>$ diverges. The ${\cal D}=0$ case is solved for a class of $S$. The dependence of $λ_{cN}(t)$ on $d$ is analyzed. Similar behavior is conjectured when diffusion is replaced by diffraction, ${\cal D}\to i{\cal D}$, the case of interest for backscattering instabilities in laser-plasma interaction.

physics.plasm-ph↗