Global-in-time solutions to the three-dimensional Vlasov--Poisson system (Q1260847)

The Vlasov-Poisson system \[ \partial_ tf + v \cdot \partial_ x f - \partial_ x U \cdot \partial_ vf = 0, \quad \Delta U = 4 \pi \gamma \rho, \quad \rho (t,x) = \int f(t,x,v) dv, \quad t \in \mathbb{R}, x,v \in \mathbb{R}^ 3, \] describes the time evolution of a collisionless ensemble of mass-points which interact by selfconsistent gravitational \((\gamma = 1)\) or electrostatic \((\gamma = - 1)\) forces. It has long been known that a classical solution with compactly supported \(C^ 1\) initial condition \(f(0)\) is global provided the quantity \[ P(t) = \sup \bigl\{ | v | \mid (x,v) \in \text{supp} f(t) \bigr\} \] remains bounded on bounded time intervals. \textit{K. Pfaffelmoser} [Globale klassische Lösungen des dreidimensionalen Vlasov-Poisson-Systems, München: Univ. München, Fak. Math., Diss. 40 S. (1989; Zbl 0722.35090)] was the first to prove global existence of classical solutions and obtained the estimate \(P(t) \leq C(1 + t)^{51/11 + \varepsilon}\), \(t \geq 0\), for any \(\varepsilon > 0\), cf. also [J. Differ. Equations 95, No. 2, 281-303 (1992)]. A greatly simplified proof is due to \textit{J. Schaeffer} [Commun. Partial Differ. Equations 16, No. 8/9, 1313-1335 (1991; Zbl 0746.35050)] who obtained \(P(t) \leq C(1 + t)^{33/17 + \varepsilon}\). At the moment, the best such estimate, \(P(t) \leq C(1+ t) \log^{11/14} (1 + t)\), is due to \textit{E. Horst} [Math. Methods Appl. Sci. 16, No. 2, 75-85 (1993; Zbl 0782.35079)], while the simplest proof can be found in an unpublished manuscript by J. Schaeffer. In the paper under review the author presents a proof which is based on the same ideas as Schaeffer's paper and obtains essentially the same estimate for \(P(t)\).