Linear stability of thick sprays equations (Q2679636)

The authors study so called thick sprays equations, used to describe sprays (droplets or dust specks in a surrounding gas) in which the volume fraction of the disperse phase is non negligible. They are based on a coupling between a kinetic equation of Vlasov type (for the droplets) and a system of compressible fluid equations (for the gas) and thus consist of a system of PDEs of the form \[ \begin{cases} \partial_t (\alpha \rho) + \nabla\cdot (\alpha\rho \mathbf{u})=0,\\ \partial_t (\alpha \rho \mathbf{u}) + \nabla\cdot (\alpha\rho \mathbf{u}\otimes \mathbf{u}) + \nabla p = -m_{\star} \int \mathbf{\Gamma} f d v,\\ \partial_t (\alpha \rho e) + \nabla\cdot (\alpha\rho e \mathbf{u}) + p (\partial_t \alpha + \nabla\cdot (\alpha\mathbf{u}))= D_\star \int |\mathbf{v}-\mathbf{u}|^2 f d v,\\ \partial_t f + \mathbf{v}\cdot\nabla_x f +\nabla_v\cdot (\mathbf{\Gamma} f)=0. \end{cases} \] Here \(\rho=\rho(t,\mathbf{x})\geq 0\) is the mass density, \(\mathbf{u}=\mathbf{u}(t,\mathbf{x})\in\mathbb{R}^3\) is the velocity of the gas (which evolves according to the compressible Euler equations) and \(e=e(t,\mathbf{x})\geq 0\) is the internal energy. The pressure \(p\geq 0\) is a function of \(\rho\) and \(e\), assumed to satisfy a perfect gas pressure law \(p = (\gamma-1)\rho e\) for some \(\gamma>1\). The disperse phase is described by the phase space density \(f = f (t, \mathbf{x}, \mathbf{v}) \geq 0\) of particles (e.g. droplets) which at time \(t\) and point \(\mathbf{x}\) move with velocity \(\mathbf{v}\in\mathbb{R}^3\); the spray is assumed to be mono-disperse, i.e. all droplets have the same radius, as well as same mass \(m_\star\). The volume fraction \(\alpha=\alpha(t,\mathbf{x})\) of gas is then given by \[ \alpha=1-m_\star \int f d v; \] thick sprays model physical situations in which \(\alpha\in [0,1)\) can be significantly smaller than \(1\) (in constrast to this sprays where \(\alpha\approx 1\)). The first main statement of the paper shows that the volume fraction \(\alpha\) stays strictly positive, under mild conditions on velocities only; the proof combines nonlinear entropy estimates and simple bounds. The second class of main results instead investigates the linear stability of solutions around space-homogeneous profiles, taking inspiration from stability analysis in plasma physics; the equations are linearized around a reference solution and the stability of perturbations is analyzed using weighted quadratic norms, which play the role of Lyapunov functionals. Finally, possible extensions to more general models where the particles are subjected to additional physical effects (such as collisions, temperature exchanges or viscosity effects) are discussed.