arXiv subjects

Yann Brenier

Publications and source records attributed to Yann Brenier.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Monge Ampère gravity: from the large deviation principle to cosmological simulations through optimal transport

We study Monge-Ampère gravity (MAG) as an effective theory of cosmological structure formation through optimal transport theory. MAG is based on the Monge-Ampère equation, a nonlinear version of the Poisson equation, that relates the Hessian determinant of the potential to the density field. We explain how MAG emerges from a conditioned system of independent and indistinguishable Brownian particles, through the large deviation principle, in the continuum limit. To numerically explore this highly non-linear theory, we develop a novel N-body simulation method based on semi-discrete optimal transport. Our results obtained from the very first N-body simulation of Monge-Ampère gravity with over 100 millions particles show that on large scales, Monge-Ampère gravity is similar to the Newtonian gravity but favours the formation of anisotropic structures such as filaments. At small scales, MAG has a weaker clustering and is screened in high-density regions. Although here we study the Monge-Ampère gravity as an effective rather than a fundamental theory, our novel highly-performant optimal transport algorithm can be used to run high-resolution simulations of a large class of modified theories of gravity, such as Galileons, in which the equations of motion are second-order and of Monge-Ampère type.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Monge-Amp\`ere gravity, optimal transport theory and their link to the Galileons

Mathematicians have been proposing for sometimes that Monge-Amp\`ere equation, a nonlinear generalization of the Poisson equation, where trace of the Hessian is replaced by its determinant, provides an alternative non-relativistic description of gravity. Monge-Amp\`ere equation is affine invariant, has rich geometric properties, connects to optimal transport theory, and remains bounded at short distances. Monge-Amp\`ere gravity, that uses a slightly different form of the Monge-Amp\`ere equation, naturally emerges through the application of large-deviation principle to a Brownian system of indistinguishable and independent particles. In this work we provide a physical formulation of this mathematical model, study its theoretical viability and confront it with observations. We show that Monge-Amp\`ere gravity cannot replace the Newtonian gravity as it does not withstand the solar-system test. We then show that Monge-Amp\`ere gravity can describe a scalar field, often evoked in modified theories of gravity such as Galileons. We show that Monge-Amp\`ere gravity, as a nonlinear model of a new scalar field, is screened at short distances, and behaves differently from Newtonian gravity above galactic scales but approaches it asymptotically. Finally, we write a relativistic Lagrangian for Monge-Amp\`ere gravity in flat space time, which is the field equation of a sum of the Lagrangians of all Galileons. We also show how the Monge-Amp\`ere equation can be obtained from the fully covariant Lagrangian of quartic Galileon in the static limit. The connection between optimal transport theory and modified theories of gravity with second-order field equations, unravelled here, remains a promising domain to further explore.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Relaxed solutions for incompressible inviscid flows: A variational and gravitational approximation to the initial value problem

Following Arnold's geometric interpretation, the Euler equations of an incompressible fluid moving in a domain D are known to be the optimality equation of the minimizing geodesic problem along the group of orientation and volume preserving diffeomorphisms of D. This problem admits a well-established convex relaxation which generates a set of "relaxed", "multi-stream", version of the Euler equations. However, it is unclear that such relaxed equations are appropriate for the initial value problem and the theory of turbulence, due to their lack of well-posedness for most initial data. As an attempt to get a more relevant set of relaxed Euler equations, we address the multi-stream pressure-less gravitational Euler-Poisson system as an approximate model, for which we show that the initial value problem can be stated as a concave maximization problem from which we can at least recover a large class of smooth solutions for short enough times.

math.AP↗

arXiv2021

$Γ$-convergence for a class of action functionals induced by gradients of convex functions

Given a real function $f$, the rate function for the large deviations of the diffusion process of drift $\nabla f$ given by the Freidlin-Wentzell theorem coincides with the time integral of the energy dissipation for the gradient flow associated with $f$. This paper is concerned with the stability in the hilbertian framework of this common action functional when $f$ varies. More precisely, we show that if $(f_h)_h$ is uniformly $λ$-convex for some $λ\in \mathbb{R}$ and converges towards $f$ in the sense of Mosco convergence, then the related functionals $Γ$-converge in the strong topology of curves.

math.OC↗

arXiv2020

Monge-Ampère gravitation as a $Γ$-limit of good rate functions

Monge-Ampère gravitation is a modification of the classical Newtonian gravitation where the linear Poisson equation is replaced by the nonlinear Monge-Ampère equation. This paper is concerned with the rigorous derivation of Monge-Ampère gravitation for a finite number of particles from the stochastic model of a Brownian point cloud, in the spirit of a previous work by the third author [A double large deviation principle for Monge-Ampère gravitation, 2016]. The main step in this derivation is the $Γ-$convergence of the good rate functions corresponding to a one-parameter family of large deviation principles. Surprisingly, the derived model includes dissipative phenomena. As an illustration, we show that it leads to sticky collisions in one space dimension.

math.OC↗

arXiv2019

On optimal transport of matrix-valued measures

We suggest a new way of defining optimal transport of positive-semidefinite matrix-valued measures. It is inspired by a recent rendering of the incompressible Euler equations and related conservative systems as concave maximization problems. The main object of our attention is the Kantorovich-Bures metric space, which is a matricial analogue of the Wasserstein and Hellinger-Kantorovich metric spaces. We establish some topological, metric and geometric properties of this space, which includes the existence of the optimal transportation path.

math.OC↗

arXiv2017

Solution by convex minimizationof the Cauchy problem forhyperbolic systems of conservation laws with convex entropy

We show that, for first-order systems of conservation laws with a strictly convex entropy,in particular for the very simple so-called "inviscid" Burgers equation,it is possible to address the Cauchy problem by a suitable convex minimizationproblem, quite similar to some problems arising in optimal transport or variational mean-field game theory.In the general case, we show that smooth, shock-free, solutions can be recoveredon some sufficiently small interval of time. In the special situation of the Burgers equation, we furthershow that every "entropy solution" (in the sense of Kruzhkov)including shocks, can be recovered, for arbitrarily long time intervals.

math.AP↗

arXiv2017

The initial value problem for the Euler equations of incompressible fluids viewed as a concave maximization problem

We consider the Euler equations of incompressible fluids and attempt to solve the initial value problem with the help of a concave maximization problem.We show that this problem, which shares a similar structure with the optimal transport problemwith quadratic cost, in its "Benamou-Brenier" formulation,always admits a relaxed solution that can be interpretedin terms of $sub-solution$ of the Euler equations in the sense of convex integration theory.Moreover, any smooth solution of the Euler equations can be recovered from this maximization problem, at least for short times.

math.AP↗

arXiv2017

An integrable example of gradient flows based on optimal transport of differential forms

Optimal transport theory has been a powerful tool for the analysis of parabolic equationsviewed as gradient flows of volume forms according to suitable transportation metrics.In this paper, we present an example of gradient flows for closed (d-1)-forms in theEuclidean space R^d. In spite of its apparent complexity, the resulting verydegenerate parabolic system is fully integrable and can be viewed as the Eulerianversion of the heat equation for curves in the Euclidean space.We analyze this system in terms of "relative entropy" and "dissipative solutions" and provide global existence and weak-strong uniqueness results.

math.AP↗

arXiv2017

From conservative to dissipative systemsthrough quadratic change of time, with application to the curve-shortening flow

We provide several examples of dissipative systems that can be obtained from conservative ones through a simple, quadratic,change of time. A typical example is the curve-shortening flow in R^d, which is a particular case ofmean-curvature flow with co-dimension higher than one (except in the case d=2).Through such a change of time, this flow can be formally derived from the conservative model of vibrating strings obtainedfrom the Nambu-Goto action. Using the concept of "relative entropy" (or "modulated energy"), borrowed from the theoryof hyperbolic systems of conservation laws, we introduce a notion of generalized solutions,that we call dissipative solutions, for the curve-shortening flow. For given initial conditions, the set of generalized solutionsis convex, compact, if not empty. Smooth solutions to the curve-shortening flow are always unique in this setting.

math.AP↗

arXiv2015

A double large deviation principle for monge-ampere gravitation

Monge-Ampere gravitation is a nonlinear modification of classical Newtonian gravitation, when the Monge-Ampere equation substitutes for the Poisson equation. We establish, through two applications of the large deviation principle, that the MA gravitation for a finite number of particles can be reduced, through a double application of the large deviation principle, to the simplest possible stochastic model: a collection of independent Brownian motions with vanishing noise.

math.AP↗

arXiv2014

Connections between Optimal Transport, Combinatorial Optimization and Hydrodynamics

There are well-established connections between combinatorial optimization, optimal transport theory and Hydrodynamics, through the linear assignment problem in combinatorics, the Monge-Kantorovich problem in optimal transport theory and the model of inviscid, potential, pressure-less fluids in Hydrodynamics. Here, we consider the more challenging quadratic assignment problem (which is NP, while the linear assignment problem is just P) and find, in some particular case, a correspondence with the problem of finding stationary solutions of Euler's equations for incompressible fluids. For that purpose, we introduce and analyze a suitable "gradient flow" equation. Combining some ideas of P.-L. Lions (for the Euler equations) and Ambrosio-Gigli-Savaré (for the heat equation), we provide for the initial value problem a concept of generalized "dissipative" solutions which always exist globally in time and are unique whenever theyare smooth.

math.AP↗

arXiv2013

Topology-preserving diffusion of divergence-free vector fields and magnetic relaxation

The usual heat equation is not suitable to preserve the topology of divergence-free vector fields, because it destroys their integral line structure. On the contrary, in the fluid mechanics literature, on can find examples of topology-preserving diffusion equations for divergence-free vector fields. They are very degenerate since they admit all stationary solutions to the Euler equations of incompressible fluids as equilibrium points. For them, we provide a suitable concept of "dissipative solutions", which shares common features with both P.-L. Lions' dissipative solutions to the Euler equations and the concept of "curves of maximal slopes", a la De Giorgi, recently used to study the scalar heat equation in very general metric spaces.

math.AP↗

arXiv2012

Approximation of a simple Navier-Stokes model by monotonic rearrangement

We consider a Navier-Stokes model for compressible fluids in one space dimension. We show that it can be approximated by a time-discrete scheme combining the discretization of a trivial stochastic differential equation and the application of a suitable monotonic rearrangement operator In addition, our result can be easily extended to a related Navier-Stokes-Poisson system.

math.AP↗

arXiv2012

Sticky particle dynamics with interactions

We consider compressible pressureless fluid flows in Lagrangian coordinates in one space dimension. We assume that the fluid self-interacts through a force field generated by the fluid itself. We explain how this flow can be described by a differential inclusion on the space of transport maps, in particular when a sticky particle dynamics is assumed. We study a discrete particle approximation and we prove global existence and stability results for solutions of this system. In the particular case of the Euler-Poisson system in the attractive regime our approach yields an explicit representation formula for the solutions.

math.AP↗

arXiv2010

Remarks on the Minimizing Geodesic Problem in Inviscid Incompressible Fluid Mechanics

We consider $L^2$ minimizing geodesics along the group of volume preserving maps $SDiff(D)$ of a given 3-dimensional domain $D$. The corresponding curves describe the motion of an ideal incompressible fluid inside $D$ and are (formally) solutions of the Euler equations. It is known that there is a unique possible pressure gradient for these curves whenever their end points are fixed. In addition, this pressure field has a limited but unconditional (internal) regularity. The present paper completes these results by showing: 1) the uniqueness property can be viewed as an infinite dimensional phenomenon (related to the possibility of relaxing the corresponding minimization problem by convex optimization), which is false for finite dimensional configuration spaces such as O(3) for the motion of rigid bodies; 2) the unconditional partial regularity is necessarily limited.

math.AP↗

arXiv2009

Weak-strong uniqueness for measure-valued solutions

We prove the weak-strong uniqueness for measure-valued solutions of the incompressible Euler equations. These were introduced by R.DiPerna and A.Majda, and in particular global existence to any L2 initial data was proven. Whether measure-valued solutions agree with classical solutions if the latter exist has apparently remained open. We also show that DiPerna's measure-valued solutions to systems of conservation laws have the weak-strong uniqueness property.

math.AP↗

arXiv2009

Hidden convexity in some nonlinear PDEs from geometry and physics

The purpose of the present paper is to show few examples of nonlinear PDEs (mostly with strong geometric features) for which there is a hidden convex structure. This is not only a matter of curiosity. Once the convex structure is unrevealed, robust existence and uniqueness results can be unexpectedly obtained for very general data. Of course, as usual, regularity issues are left over as a hard post-process, but, at least, existence and uniqueness results are obtained in a large framework. The paper will address: THE MONGE-AMPERE EQUATION, THE EULER EQUATION, MULTIDIMENSIONAL HYPERBOLIC SCALAR CONSERVATION LAWS AND THE BORN-INFELD SYSTEM.

math.AP↗