Statistical mechanics of Landau damping

Abstract

Landau damping is the tendency of solutions to the Vlasov equation towards spatially homogeneous distribution functions. The distribution functions however approach the spatially homogeneous manifold only weakly, and Boltzmann entropy is not changed by Vlasov equation. On the other hand, density and kinetic energy density, which are integrals of the distribution function, approach spatially homogeneous states strongly, which is accompanied by growth of the hydrodynamic entropy. Such a behavior can be seen when Vlasov equation is reduced to the evolution equations for density and kinetic energy density by means of the Ehrenfest reduction.