Robert T. Glassey - Böcker

This clearly written, self-contained volume studies the basic equations of kinetic theory in all of space. It contains up-to-date, state-of-the-art treatments of initial-value problems for the major kinetic equations, including the Boltzmann equation (from rarefied gas dynamics) and the Vlasov-Poisson/Vlasov-Maxwell systems (from plasma physics). This is the only existing book to treat Boltzmann-type problems and Vlasov-type problems together. Although these equations describe very different phenomena, they share the same streaming term.The author proves that solutions starting from a given configuration at an initial time exist for all future times by imposing appropriate hypotheses on the initial values in several important cases. He emphasizes those questions that a mathematician would ask first: Is there a solution to this problem? Is it unique? Can it be numerically approximated?The topics treated include the study of the Boltzmann collision operator, the study of the initial-value problem for the Boltzmann equation with ""small"" and ""near equilibrium"" data, global smooth solvability of the initial-value problem for the Vlasov-Poisson system with smooth initial data of unrestricted size, conditions under which the initial-value problem for the Vlasov-Maxwell system has global-in-time solutions (in both the smooth and weak senses), and more.

IMA Volumes 135: Transport in Transition Regimes and 136: Dispersive Transport Equations and Multiscale Models focus on the modeling of processes for which transport is one of the most complicated components. This includes processes that involve a wdie range of length scales over different spatio-temporal regions of the problem, ranging from the order of mean-free paths to many times this scale. Consequently, effective modeling techniques require different transport models in each region. The first issue is that of finding efficient simulations techniques, since a fully resolved kinetic simulation is often impractical. One therefore develops homogenization, stochastic, or moment based subgrid models. Another issue is to quantify the discrepancy between macroscopic models and the underlying kinetic description, especially when dispersive effects become macroscopic, for example due to quantum effects in semiconductors and superfluids. These two volumes address these questions in relation to a wide variety of application areas, such as semiconductors, plasmas, fluids, chemically reactive gases, etc.