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On the motion of a body in thermal equilibriumimmersedin a perfect gas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2008

Kazuo Aoki
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Science and Advanced Research Institute of Fluid Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. [email protected]
Guido Cavallaro
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza", Piazzale A. Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy. [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Carlo Marchioro
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza", Piazzale A. Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy. [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Mario Pulvirenti
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Matematica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza", Piazzale A. Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy. [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
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Abstract

We consider a body immersed in a perfect gas and moving under the action of a constant force.Body and gas are in thermal equilibrium. We assume a stochastic interaction body/medium: when a particle of the medium hits the body, it is absorbed and immediately re-emitted with a Maxwellian distribution. This system gives rise to a microscopic model of friction. We study the approach of the body velocity V(t) to the limiting velocity $V_\infty$ and prove that, under suitable smallness assumptions, the approach to equilibrium is $$|V(t)-V_\infty|\approx \frac{C}{t^{d+1}},$$ where d is the dimension of the space, and C is a positive constant. This approach is not exponential, as typical in friction problems, and even slower than for the same problem with elastic collisions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, SMAI, 2008

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