A kinetic eikonal equation

Abstract

We analyse the linear kinetic transport equation with a BGK relaxation operator. We study the large scale hyperbolic limit $(t,x)\to (t/\eps,x/\eps)$. We derive a new type of limiting Hamilton-Jacobi equation, which is analogous to the classical eikonal equation derived from the heat equation with small diffusivity. We prove well-posedness of the phase problem and convergence towards the viscosity solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation. This is a preliminary work before analysing the propagation of reaction fronts in kinetic equations.