Boltzmann Collision Integral Research Articles

Accelerating the Solution of the Boltzmann Equation by Controlling Contributions to the Collision Integral

A method of reducing the number of arithmetic operations needed to evaluate the Boltzmann collision integral by the conservative projection method is proposed. This is achieved by eliminating the contributions that are less than a certain threshold. An estimate of the maximum magnitude of this threshold is given. For four such thresholds that differ by an order of magnitude from each other, calculations of the flows of rarefied gas at Mach numbers in the range from 0.5 to 10 are carried out, and the results are compared with those obtained using the basic method. In all cases, there is a slight (within a few percent) difference for the highest threshold and almost complete coincidence for the other thresholds. A multiple acceleration of the solution of the Boltzmann equation was obtained, which is most significant for large Mach numbers.

Method and computer library for calculation of the Boltzmann collision integrals on discrete momentum lattice.

We present a general and numerically efficient method for calculation of collision integrals for interacting quantum gases on a discrete momentum lattice. Here we employ the original analytical approach based on Fourier transform covering a wide spectrum of solid-state problems with various particle statistics and arbitrary interaction models, including the case of momentum-dependent interaction. The comprehensive set of the transformation principles is given in detail and realized as a computer Fortran 90 library FLBE (Fast Library for Boltzmann Equation).

Solution of the Boltzmann Equation in the Continuum Flow Regime

A method for solving the Boltzmann equation is presented that makes it possible to calculate gas flows in the continuum flow regime described by the Navier–Stokes equations. Progress into the region of continuum flows was achieved by applying the conservative projection method for calculating the Boltzmann collision integral, which preserves the leading term of the Enskog–Chapman asymptotics. Optimization of this method that made it possible to considerably decrease the amount of computations is described. Examples of the longitudinal subsonic flow around a flat plate for the case of the Knudsen numbers Kn = (0,01 0,001 0,0001) are discussed.

Influence of Electronic Non-Equilibrium on Energy Distribution and Dissipation in Aluminum Studied with an Extended Two-Temperature Model.

When an ultrashort laser pulse excites a metal surface, only a few of all the free electrons absorb a photon. The resulting non-equilibrium electron energy distribution thermalizes quickly to a hot Fermi distribution. The further energy dissipation is usually described in the framework of a two-temperature model, considering the phonons of the crystal lattice as a second subsystem. Here, we present an extension of the two-temperature model including the non-equilibrium electrons as a third subsystem. The model was proposed initially by E. Carpene and later improved by G.D. Tsibidis. We introduce further refinements, in particular, a temperature-dependent electron–electron thermalization time and an extended energy interval for the excitation function. We show results comparing the transient energy densities as well as the energy-transfer rates of the original equilibrium two-temperature description and the improved extended two-temperature model, respectively. Looking at the energy distribution of all electrons, we find good agreement in the non-equilibrium distribution of the extended two-temperature model with results from a kinetic description solving full Boltzmann collision integrals. The model provides a convenient tool to trace non-equilibrium electrons at small computational effort. As an example, we determine the dynamics of high-energy electrons observable in photo-electron spectroscopy. The comparison of the calculated spectral densities with experimental results demonstrates the necessity of considering electronic non-equilibrium distributions and electron–electron thermalization processes in time- and energy-resolved analyses.

Numerical Study of Grain Charging Kinetics on the Basis of BGK Kinetic Equation

An investigation of charging a spherical particle in partially ionized nonisothermal plasma is carried out on the basis of the numerical solution of the BGK (Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook) model kinetic equation. Stationary values of the particle charge and the electron and ion currents are calculated for various collisional regimes. It is verified that, for the strongly collisional regime, the effective potential has a Coulomb form at large distance from the particle surface. A new BGK-type model for binary gas mixtures is proposed. It is shown that this model satisfies all the basic properties of Boltzmann collision integrals including the correct exchange coefficients. A high-order implicit numerical method for solving the kinetic equations is developed. The method is conservative with respect to the collision integrals for arbitrary values of the Knudsen number.

Hydrodynamics of weak integrability breaking

We review recent progress in understanding nearly integrable models within the framework of generalized hydrodynamics (GHD). Integrable systems have infinitely many conserved quantities and stable quasiparticle excitations: when integrability is broken, only a few residual conserved quantities survive, eventually leading to thermalization, chaotic dynamics and conventional hydrodynamics. In this review, we summarize recent efforts to take into account small integrability breaking terms, and describe the transition from GHD to standard hydrodynamics. We discuss the current state of the art, with emphasis on weakly inhomogeneous potentials, generalized Boltzmann equations and collision integrals, as well as bound-state recombination effects. We also identify important open questions for future works.

A flux reconstruction kinetic scheme for the Boltzmann equation

It is challenging to solve the Boltzmann equation accurately due to the extremely high dimensionality and nonlinearity. This paper addresses the idea and implementation of the first flux reconstruction method for high-order Boltzmann solutions. Based on the Lagrange interpolation and reconstruction, the kinetic upwind flux functions are solved simultaneously within physical and particle velocity space. The fast spectral method is incorporated to solve the full Boltzmann collision integral with a general collision kernel. The explicit singly diagonally implicit Runge-Kutta (ESDIRK) method is employed as time integrator and the stiffness of the collision term is smoothly overcome. Besides, we ensure the shock capturing property by introducing a self-adaptive artificial dissipation, which is derived naturally from the effective cell Knudsen number at the kinetic scale. As a result, the current flux reconstruction kinetic scheme can be universally applied in all flow regimes. Numerical experiments including wave propagation, normal shock structure, one-dimensional Riemann problem, Couette flow and lid-driven cavity will be presented to validate the scheme. The order of convergence of the current scheme is clearly identified. The capability for simulating cross-scale and non-equilibrium flow dynamics is demonstrated.

Macroscopic turbulent flow via hard sphere potential

In recent works, we proposed a hypothesis that the turbulence in gases could be produced by particles interacting via a potential and examined the proposed mechanics of turbulence formation in a simple model of two particles for a variety of different potentials. In this work, we use the same hypothesis to develop new fluid mechanics equations that model turbulent gas flow on a macroscopic scale. The main difference between our approach and the conventional formalism is that we avoid replacing the potential interaction between particles with the Boltzmann collision integral. Due to this difference, the velocity moment closure, which we implement for the shear stress and heat flux, relies upon the high Reynolds number condition rather than the Newton law of viscosity and the Fourier law of heat conduction. The resulting system of equations of fluid mechanics differs considerably from the standard Euler and Navier–Stokes equations. A numerical simulation of our system shows that a laminar Bernoulli jet of an argon-like hard sphere gas in a straight pipe rapidly becomes a turbulent flow. The time-averaged Fourier spectra of the kinetic energy of this flow exhibit Kolmogorov’s negative five-thirds power decay rate.

Acceleration of Boltzmann Collision Integral Calculation Using Machine Learning

The Boltzmann equation is essential to the accurate modeling of rarefied gases. Unfortunately, traditional numerical solvers for this equation are too computationally expensive for many practical applications. With modern interest in hypersonic flight and plasma flows, to which the Boltzmann equation is relevant, there would be immediate value in an efficient simulation method. The collision integral component of the equation is the main contributor of the large complexity. A plethora of new mathematical and numerical approaches have been proposed in an effort to reduce the computational cost of solving the Boltzmann collision integral, yet it still remains prohibitively expensive for large problems. This paper aims to accelerate the computation of this integral via machine learning methods. In particular, we build a deep convolutional neural network to encode/decode the solution vector, and enforce conservation laws during post-processing of the collision integral before each time-step. Our preliminary results for the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation show a drastic reduction of computational cost. Specifically, our algorithm requires O(n3) operations, while asymptotically converging direct discretization algorithms require O(n6), where n is the number of discrete velocity points in one velocity dimension. Our method demonstrated a speed up of 270 times compared to these methods while still maintaining reasonable accuracy.

Impact of off-shell dynamics on the transport properties and the dynamical evolution of charm quarks at RHIC and LHC temperatures

We evaluate drag and diffusion transport coefficients comparing a quasi-particle approximation with on-shell constituents of the QGP medium and a dynamical quasi-particles model with off-shell bulk medium at finite temperature T. We study the effects of the width gamma of the particles of the bulk medium on the charm quark transport properties exploring the range where gamma < M_{q,g}. We find that off-shell effects are in general quite moderate and can induce a reduction of the drag coefficient at low momenta that disappear already at moderate momenta, p gtrsim 2–3 GeV. We also observe a moderate reduction of the breaking of the fluctuation–dissipation theorem (FDT) at finite momenta. Moreover, we have performed a first study of the dynamical evolution of HQ elastic energy loss in a bulk medium at fixed temperature extending the Boltzmann (BM) collision integral to include off-shell dynamics. A comparison among the Langevin dynamics, the BM collisional integral with on-shell and the BM extension to off-shell dynamics shows that the evolution of charm energy when off-shell effects are included remain quite similar to the case of the on-shell BM collision integral.

Relaxation times for Bose-Einstein condensation in axion miniclusters

We study the Bose condensation of scalar dark matter in the presence of both gravitational and self-interactions. Axions and other scalar dark matter in gravitationally bound miniclusters or dark matter halos are expected to condense into Bose-Einstein condensates called Bose stars. This process has been shown to occur through attractive self-interactions of the axion-like particles or through the field's self gravitation. We show that in the high-occupancy regime of scalar dark matter, the Boltzmann collision integral does not describe either gravitaitonal or self-interactions, and derive kinetic equations valid for these interactions. We use this formalism to compute relaxation times for the Bose-Einstein condensation, and find that condensation into Bose stars could occur within the lifetime of the universe. The self-interactions reduce the condensation time only when they are very strong.

Linear magnetoresistance induced by intra-scattering semiclassics of Bloch electrons

The weak field magnetoresistance has seen a revived interest due to the distinct role played by the momentum-space Berry curvature of Bloch electrons. While most previous studies in this regard focus on the inter-scattering motion of semiclassical Bloch electrons in electromagnetic fields, the intra-scattering effects of the semiclassical dynamics augmented by the Berry curvature, magnetic moment and shift vector on the magnetoresistance have been largely overlooked. Here we uncover that these intra-scattering effects, which are neglected in the field-independent relaxation time approximation to the Boltzmann collision integral, can be as important as the inter-scattering ones. Concrete calculations on the two dimensional gapped Dirac model show that the sign of the negative linear magnetoresistance given by the Berry curvature alone is reversed when one considers the magnetic moment and shift vector.

Kinetic Methods for Solving Unsteady Problems with Jet Flows

The study of nonstationary rarefied gas flows is currently paid much attention. Such interest to these problems is caused by the creation of pulsed jets used for the deposition of thin films and special coatings on solid surfaces. However the problems of nonstationary rarefied gas flows have not been studied sufficiently fully because of their large computational complexity. In this paper the computational aspects of investigating the nonstationary flows of a reflected gas from a wall and flowing through a suddenly formed gap is considering. The objective of this study is to analyze the possible numerical kinetic approaches for solving such nonstationary problems and to identify the difficulties encountered in solving.When studying the gas flows in strong rarefaction regimes one should consider the Boltzmann kinetic equation, but its numerical implementation is rather laborious. In order to use more simple approaches based for example on approximation kinetic equations (Ellipsoidal-Statistical model, Shakhov model), it is important to estimate the difference of the solutions of the model equations and the Boltzmann equation. For this purpose two auxiliary problems are considered: reflection of the gas flow from the wall and outflow of the free jet into the rarefied background gas. Numerical solution of these problems shows a weak dependence of the solution on the type of the collision operator in the rarefied region, but a strong dependence on the velocity grid step . The detailed velocity grid is necessary to avoid non-monotonous behavior of macroparameters caused by the “ray effect”. To reduce numerical costs on detailed grid a hybrid method based on the synthesis of model equation and the Boltzmann equation is proposed. Such approach can be promising since it reduces the domain in which the Boltzmann collision integral should be used.The results presented in this paper were obtained using two different software packages Unified Flow Solver (UFS) [13] and Nesvetay 3D [14-15]. Note that UFS uses the discrete ordinate method for velocity space on a uniform grid and a hierarchical adaptive mesh refinement in physical space. The possibility of calculating both the Boltzmann equation and model equations is realized. The Nesvetay 3D complex was created to solve the Shakhov model equation, (S-model) and makes it possible to calculate on non-structured non uniform grids in velocity and physical spaces.Translated from Russian. Original text: Mathematics and Mathematical Modeling. 2018. no. 4. Pp. 27-44.

Construction of the collision integral kernels for the hard spheres model

Recurrence procedure for constructing kernels of the integral operators arising in expansion of the nonlinear Boltzmann collision integral in Legendre polynomials is realised in “Mathematica” system for the hard spheres gas. All the kernels with increasing indices corresponding to the Legendre polynomials indices are subsequently calculated up to sum of indices equal to 40. The main features of the kernels as functions of their indices are considered. The kernels can be used to solve the nonlinear Boltzmann equation in strongly anisotropic case.

Phonon-induced long-lasting nonequilibrium in the electron system of a laser-excited solid

Electron-electron thermalization and electron-phonon relaxation processes in laser-excited solids are often assumed to occur on different timescales. This is true for the majority of the conduction band electrons in a metal. However, electron-phonon interactions can influence the thermalization process of the excited electrons. We study the interplay of the underlying scattering mechanisms for the case of a noble metal with help of a set of complete Boltzmann collision integrals. We trace the transient electron distribution in copper and its deviations from a Fermi-Dirac distribution due to the excitation with an ultrashort laser pulse. We investigate the different stages of electronic nonequilibrium after an excitation with an ultrashort laser-pulse of 800 nm wavelength and 10 fs pulse duration. Our calculations show a strong nonequilibrium during and directly after the end of the laser pulse. Subsequently, we find a fast thermalization of most electrons. Surprisingly, we observe a long-lasting nonequilibrium, which can be attributed to the electron-phonon scattering. This nonequilibrium establishes at energies around peaks in the density of states of the electrons and persists on the timescale of electron-phonon energy relaxation. It influences in turn the electron phonon coupling strength.

Kinetic Methods for Solving Non-stationary Jet Flow Problems

The study of non-stationary rarefied gas flows is, currently, attracting a great deal of attention. Such an interest arises from creating the pulsed jets used for deposition of thin films and special coatings on the solid surfaces. However, the problems of non-stationary rarefied gas flows are still understudied because of their large computational complexity. The paper considers the computational aspects of investigating non-stationary movement of gas reflected from a wall and flowing through a suddenly formed gap. The study objective is to analyse the possible numerical kinetic approaches to solve such problems and identify the difficulties in their solving. When modeling the gas flows in strong rarefaction one should consider the Boltzmann kinetic equation, but its numerical implementation is rather time-consuming. In order to use more simple approaches based, for example, on approximation kinetic equations (Ellipsoidal-Statistical model, Shakhov model), it is important to estimate the difference between the solutions of the model equations and of the Boltzmann equation. For this purpose, two auxiliary problems are considered, namely reflection of the gas flow from the wall and outflow of the free jet into the rarefied background gas.A numerical solution of these problems shows a weak dependence of the solution on the type of the collision operator in the rarefied region, but at the same time a strong dependence of a behavior of the macro-parameters on the velocity grid step. The detailed velocity grid is necessary to avoid a non-monotonous behavior of the macro-parameters caused by so-called ray effect. To reduce computational costs of the detailed velocity grid solution, a hybrid method based on the synthesis of model equations and the Boltzmann equation is proposed. Such an approach can be promising since it reduces the domain in which the Boltzmann collision integral should be used.The article presents the results obtained using two different software packages, namely a Unified Flow Solver (UFS) [13] and a Nesvetay 3D software complex [14-15]. Note that the UFS uses the discrete ordinate method for velocity space on a uniform grid and a hierarchical adaptive mesh refinement in physical space. The possibility to calculate both the Boltzmann equation and the model equations is realized. The Nesvetay 3D software complex was created to solve the Shakhov model equation (S-model) for calculations based on non-structured non-uniform grids, both in velocity space and in physical one.

Cubic Fokker–Planck method for rarefied monatomic gas flow through a slit and an orifice

The flow through a thin slit and a thin orifice is studied with the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC), cubic Fokker–Planck (FP), and a coupled FP-DSMC hybrid method. Pressure driven monatomic gas flows through a slit and an orifice with various values of degree of rarefaction and pressure ratio are computed. The DSMC method is physically accurate for all flow regimes; however it is computationally expensive in high density, near continuum regions. An alternative stochastic particle scheme, the cubic FP kinetic model has addressed this issue by approximating the particle collisions involved in the Boltzmann collision integral with continuous stochastic processes. The ability of the cubic FP method to reproduce breakdown of translational equilibrium is discussed. In addition, a coupled FP-DSMC hybrid scheme is employed aiming at an efficient and accurate solution. The FP-DSMC hybrid scheme employs DSMC in rarefied regions and FP method in near continuum flow regions. Numerical procedures of the cubic FP method are implemented within the framework of an existing DSMC-solver, SPARTA. The FP-DSMC hybrid solution reproduces pure DSMC solution with improved computational efficiency up to a factor of eight for vacuum flow through a thin slit.

Anisotropic Neutron Emission Spectrum and Its Utilization for Verification of Nuclear Elastic Scattering Effect in Proton-Beam-Injected Deuterium Plasmas

A possible scenario to observe a knock-on tail using anisotropic neutron emission spectrum in a proton-beam injected deuterium plasma is presented. On the basis of the ion trajectory analysis in ITER-like magnetic configuration, Boltzmann collision integral and Fokker-Planck simulation, the knock-on tail formation in deuteron distribution function due to nuclear elastic scattering, and the resulting modification of the “double differential” neutron emission spectrum are examined. As a result of the beam injection with a specific direction, the neutron emission spectrum is modified in 2-D phase space. It is shown that the ratio of neutron emission rate with >2.8-MeV energy to the 2.45-MeV peak is increased almost 10 times compared with the 1-D modified neutron emission spectrum integrated over the emission angle, which implies the improvement of the accuracy in the neutron measurement. By using the anisotropic neutron emission adjusting the relative positions between beam-injection port and the neutron detector, the possibility to catch the knock-on tail for various plasma conditions can be increased.

Assessment of the cubic Fokker–Planck–DSMC hybrid method for hypersonic rarefied flows past a cylinder

Hypersonic vehicles experience a wide range of Knudsen number regimes due to changes in atmospheric density. The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method is physically accurate for all flow regimes, however it is relatively computationally expensive in high density, and low Knudsen number regions. Recent advances in the Fokker–Planck (FP) kinetic models have addressed this issue by approximating the particle collisions involved in the Boltzmann collision integral with continuous stochastic processes. Furthermore, a coupled FP–DSMC solution method has been devised aiming at a universally efficient yet accurate solution algorithm for rarefied gas flows. Well known Lofthouse case of a generic hypersonic flow about a cylinder (Mach 10, Kn 0.01, Argon) is selected to investigate the performance of a hybrid FP–DSMC implementation. The effect of molecular potential on the accuracy of the scheme is mainly analyzed. Furthermore, spatial resolution of cubic FP scheme is studied. Finally, detailed study of accuracy and efficiency of FP–DSMC hybrid scheme is discussed. It is found that the presented adaptive grid together with the FP–DSMC method results in a factor of six speed up for considered hypersonic flow about a cylinder.

Transport coefficients for drifting Maxwellian plasmas: The effect of Coulomb collisions

We derive the collisional momentum and energy transport coefficients in Maxwellian plasmas with a general drift velocity with respect to the ambient magnetic field by using two approaches, the Fokker-Planck approximation and Boltzmann collision integral. We find the transport coefficients obtained from Fokker-Planck representation are similar to those obtained by using Boltzmann collision integral approach, and both results are presented in a closed form in terms of hypergeometric functions. This has been done for drifting Maxwellian plasmas with special emphasis on Coulomb collision, i.e. inverse-square force. Also, we calculate the transport coefficients for two special cases, firstly, when the drift velocity is parallel to the ambient magnetic field (i.e. u = u∥, and zero perpendicular drift velocity), and secondly, when the drift velocity is perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field (i.e. u = u⊥, and zero parallel drift velocity). It is worthy to mention that, up to our knowledge, none of the derived transport coefficients for the above mentioned case are presented in closed form and in terms of hypergeometric function.