We consider Smoluchowski's equation with a homogeneous kernel of the form $a(x,y) = x^αy ^β+ x^βy^α$ with $-1 < α\leq β< 1$ and $λ:= α+ β\in (-1,1)$. We first show that self-similar solutions of this equation are infinitely differentiable and prove sharp results on the behavior of self-similar profiles at $y = 0$ in the case $α< 0$. We also give some partial uniqueness results for self-similar profiles: in the case $α= 0$ we prove that two profiles with the same mass and moment of order $λ$ are necessarily equal, while in the case $α< 0$ we prove that two profiles with the same moments of order $α$ and $β$, and which are asymptotic at $y=0$, are equal. Our methods include a new representation of the coagulation operator, and estimates of its regularity using derivatives of fractional order.
Uniqueness of mass-conserving self-similar solutions to Smoluchowski's coagulation equation is shown when the coagulation kernel $K$ is given by $K(x,x\_*)=2(x x\_*)^{-α}$, $(x,x\_*)\in (0,\infty)^2$, for some $α>0$.
It is well known that for a large class of coagulation kernels, Smoluchowski coagulation equations have particular power law solutions which yield a constant flux of mass along all scales of the system. In this paper, we prove that for some choices of the coagulation kernels there are solutions with a constant flux of mass along all scales which are not power laws. The result is proved by means of a bifurcation argument.
In this article we study an extension of Smoluchowski's discrete coagulation equation, where particle in- and output takes place. This model is frequently used to describe aggregation processes in combination with sedimentation of clusters. More precisely, we show that the evolution equation is well-posed for a large class of coagulation kernels and output rates. Additionally, in the long-time limit we prove that solutions converge to a unique equilibrium with exponential rate under a suitable smallness condition on the coefficients.
In the present article we introduce a variant of Smoluchowski's coagulation equation with both position and velocity variables taking a kinetic viewpoint arising as the scaling limit of a system of second-order (microscopic) coagulating particles. We focus on the rigorous study of the PDE system in the spatially-homogeneous case proving existence and uniqueness under different initial conditions in suitable weighted space, investigating also the regularity of such solutions.
The Smoluchowski coagulation-diffusion PDE is a system of partial differential equations modelling the evolution in time of mass-bearing Brownian particles which are subject to short-range pairwise coagulation. This survey presents a fairly detailed exposition of the kinetic limit derivation of the Smoluchowski PDE from a microscopic model of many coagulating Brownian particles that was undertaken in [11]. It presents heuristic explanations of the form of the main theorem before discussing the proof, and presents key estimates in that proof using a novel probabilistic technique. The survey's p…
The coagulation (or aggregation) equation was introduced by Smoluchowski in 1916 to describe the clumping together of colloidal particles through diffusion, but has been used in many different contexts as diverse as physical chemistry, chemical engineering, atmospheric physics, planetary science, and economics. The effectiveness of clumping is described by a kernel $K(x,y)$, which depends on the sizes of the colliding particles $x,y$. We consider kernels $K = (xy)^γ$, but any homogeneous function can be treated using our methods. For sufficiently effective clumping $1 \ge γ> 1/2$, the coagulat…
Binary coagulation is an important process in aerosol dynamics by which two particles merge to form a larger one. The distribution of particle sizes over time may be described by the so-called Smoluchowski's coagulation equation. This integrodifferential equation exhibits complex non-local behaviour that strongly depends on the coagulation rate considered. We first discuss well-posedness results for the Smoluchowski's equation for a large class of coagulation kernels as well as the existence and nonexistence of stationary solutions in the presence of a source of small particles. The existence …
In this paper we consider the long time asymptotics of a linear version of the Smoluchowski equation which describes the evolution of a tagged particle moving at constant speed in a random distribution of fixed particles. The volumes $v$ of the particles are independently distributed according to a probability distribution which decays asymptotically as a power law $v^{-σ}$. The validity of the equation has been rigorously proved in \cite{NoV} for values of the exponent $σ>3$. The solutions of this equation display a rich structure of different asymptotic behaviours according to the different …
We study the similarity solutions (SS) of Smoluchowski coagulation equation with multiplicative kernel $K(x,y)=(xy)^{s}$ for $s<\frac{1}{2}$. When $s<0$% , the SS consists of three regions with distinct asymptotic behaviours. The appropriate matching yields a global description of the solution consisting of a Gamma distribution tail, an intermediate region described by a lognormal distribution and a region of very fast decay of the solutions to zero near the origin. When $s\in \left( 0,\frac{1}{2}\right) $, the SS is unbounded at the origin. It also presents three regions: a Gamma distribution…
The asymptotic behavior of the solution of an infinite set of Smoluchowski's discrete coagulation-fragmentation-diffusion equations with non-homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions, defined in a periodically perforated domain, is analyzed. Our homogenization result, based on Nguetseng-Allaire two-scale convergence, is meant to pass from a microscopic model (where the physical processes are properly described) to a macroscopic one (which takes into account only the effective or averaged properties of the system). When the characteristic size of the perforations vanishes, the information given o…
In this paper we prove the existence of a family of self-similar solutions for a class of coagulation equations with a constant flux of particles from the origin. These solutions are expected to describe the longtime asymptotics of Smoluchowski's coagulation equations with a time independent source of clusters concentrated in small sizes. The self-similar profiles are shown to be smooth, provided the coagulation kernel is also smooth. Moreover, the self-similar profiles are estimated from above and from below by $x^{-(γ+3)/2}$ as $x \to 0$, where $γ<1 $ is the homogeneity of the kernel, and ar…
A Smoluchowski type model of coagulation in a turbulent fluid is given, first expressed by means of a stochastic model, then in a suitable scaling limit as a deterministic model with enhanced diffusion in the velocity component. A precise link between mean intensity of the turbulent velocity field and coagulation enhancement is obtained by numerical simulations, and a formula for the mean velocity difference, in agreement with the gas-kinetic model, is proved by a new method.
The isotropic 4-wave kinetic equation is considered in its weak formulation using model (simplified) homogeneous kernels. Existence and uniqueness of solutions is proven in a particular setting where the kernels have a rate of growth at most linear. We also consider finite stochastic particle systems undergoing instantaneous coagulation- fragmentation phenomena and give conditions in which this system approximates the solution of the equation (mean-field limit).
We discuss the long-time behaviour of solutions to Smoluchowski's coagulation equation with kernels of homogeneity one, combining formal asymptotics, heuristic arguments based on linearization, and numerical simulations. The case of what we call diagonally dominant kernels is particularly interesting. Here one expects that the long-time behaviour is, after a suitable change of variables, the same as for the Burgers equation. However, for kernels that are close to the diagonal one we obtain instability of both, constant solutions and traveling waves and in general no convergence to N-waves for …
The global existence of mass-conserving weak solutions to the Safronov-Dubovskii coagulation equation is shown for the coagulation kernels satisfying the at most linear growth for large sizes. In contrast to previous works, the proof mainly relies on the de la Vallee-Poussin theorem [8, Theorem 7.1.6], which only requires the finiteness of the first moment of the initial condition. By showing the necessary regularity of solutions, it is shown that the weak solutions con-structed herein are indeed classical solutions. Under additional restrictions on the initial data, the uniqueness of solution…
We show how many classes of partial differential systems with local and nonlocal nonlinearities are linearisable in the sense that they are realisable as Fredholm Grassmannian flows. In other words, time-evolutionary solutions to such systems can be constructed from solutions to the corresponding underlying linear partial differential system, by solving a linear Fredholm equation. For example, it is well-known that solutions to classical integrable partial differential systems can be generated by solving a corresponding linear partial differential system for the scattering data and then solvin…
