Validité de la théorie cinétique des gaz: au-delà de l'équation de Boltzmann [d'après T. Bodineau, I. Gallagher, L. Saint-Raymond, S. Simonella]

Abstract

Obtaining a rigorous justification of the kinetic theory of gases from Newton's second law of dynamics for a large number of identical spheres interacting by elastic binary collisions, is a problem formulated by Hilbert in 1900 (Hilbert's 6th problem). In 1975, Lanford demonstrated the validity of the Boltzmann equation over a very short time interval, of the order of a fraction of the average time between two successive collisions experienced by the same particle. This result of Lanford can be interpreted as a kind of law of large numbers as the number of particles tends to infinity. This point of view raises several questions. First, the core of the argument used by Boltzmann to arrive at the equation bearing his name is the assumption that two particles about to collide are statistically almost independent. This suggests to examine the validity of this hypothesis by studying the dynamics of correlations between particles. On the other hand, the interpretation of the Boltzmann equation as a law of large numbers leads to study precisely the fluctuations of the phase space empirical measure of the particle system about its mean (whose evolution is described by the Boltzmann equation). A series of recent papers by T. Bodineau, I. Gallagher, L. Saint-Raymond and S. Simonella answers these various questions and allows going beyond the Boltzmann equation in the understanding of the kinetic theory of gases.