Fully spectral scheme for the linear BGK equation on the whole space

Abstract

In this article, we design a fully spectral method in both space and velocity for a linear inhomogeneous kinetic equation with mass, momentum and energy conservation. We focus on the linear BGK equation with a confinement potential $Φ$, even if the method could be applied to different collision operators. It is based upon the projection on Hermite polynomials in velocity and orthonormal polynomials with respect to the weight $e^{-$Φ$}$ in space. The potential $Φ$ is assumed to be a polynomial. It is, to the author's knowledge, the first scheme which preserves hypocoercive behavior in addition to the conservation laws. These different properties are illustrated numerically on both quadratic and double well potential.