Mean field limit for the one dimensional Vlasov-Poisson equation

Abstract

We consider systems of $N$ particles in dimension one, driven by pair Coulombian or gravitational interactions. When the number of particles goes to infinity in the so called mean field scaling, we formally expect convergence towards the Vlasov-Poisson equation. Actually a rigorous proof of that convergence was given by Trocheris in \cite{Tro86}. Here we shall give a simpler proof of this result, and explain why it implies the so-called "Propagation of molecular chaos". More precisely, both results will be a direct consequence of a weak-strong stability result on the one dimensional Vlasov-Poisson equation that is interesting by it own. We also prove the existence of global solutions to the $N$ particles dynamic starting from any initial positions and velocities, and the existence of global solutions to the Vlasov-Poisson equation starting from any measures with bounded first moment in velocity.