Speedy motions of a body immersed in an infinitely extended medium

Abstract

We study the motion of a classical point body of mass M, moving under the action of a constant force of intensity E and immersed in a Vlasov fluid of free particles, interacting with the body via a bounded short range potential Psi. We prove that if its initial velocity is large enough then the body escapes to infinity increasing its speed without any bound "runaway effect". Moreover, the body asymptotically reaches a uniformly accelerated motion with acceleration E/M. We then discuss at a heuristic level the case in which Psi(r) diverges at short distances like g r^{-a}, g,a>0, by showing that the runaway effect still occurs if a<2.