Steady states of the Vlasov-Poisson-Fokker-Planck system (Q1923924)

The authors investigate the existence of steady states of the Vlasov-Fokker-Planck-Poisson system \[ f_t+v\cdot\nabla_xf+E\cdot\nabla_vf=\beta\nabla_v\cdot (vf)+\nu\Delta_vf, \] \[ E=\nabla_xu,\quad\Delta u=\rho,\quad\rho=\int_{\mathbb{R}^3} f dv- n(x). \] Here, \(f=f(t,x,v)\geq 0\) is the phase space density of electrons, which move against a given ion background with spatial density \(n=n(x)\geq 0\), \(t\geq 0\) denotes time, \(x, v\in\mathbb{R}^3\) denote position and velocity, respectively, and \(\beta\) and \(\nu\) are positive constants. The electrons interact via the electrostatic field \(E\) with potential \(u\), which they create collectively; collisional effects are modelled by the right-hand side of the first equation, the so-called Fokker-Planck term. For a steady state the function \(f\) is known to be of the form \((2\pi)^{-3/2}\exp(-|v|^2/2)\alpha(x)\), and the question of existence of steady states can be reduced to a nonlinear elliptic problem for \(w=\ln\alpha\) with an exponential nonlinearity. Under mild regularity assumptions, the authors prove that for a background with finite charge, i.e., \(n\in L^1(\mathbb{R}^3)\), the only steady state with finite charge, i.e., \(\alpha\in L^1(\mathbb{R}^3)\), is the trivial solution \(\alpha=0\). This result matches the existence criteria of \textit{F. Bouchet} and \textit{J. Dolbeault} [Differ. Integral Equ. 8, No. 3, 487-514 (1995; Zbl 0830.35129)]. It should be noted that for the Vlasov-Poisson system obtained from the above for \(\beta=\nu=0\), it is well possible to sustain a steady state with finite charge by a background with finite charge. Next, the authors consider the case of an ion background with \(n(x)\to 1\) with a specified rate as \(x\to\infty\) and prove an existence and uniqueness result for corresponding steady states. This is done using the method of sub- and supersolutions and the monotonicity of the solution operator of an appropriately defined linear problem.